Macron faced with corruption charges over McKinsey contracts
Five years after he pledged to clean up French politics, Macron’s government remains plagued by scandal

When Emmanuel Macron rose to power in 2017 to become the youngest president in French history, he pledged to clean up his nation’s politics, said Ivanne Trippenbach in Le Monde (Paris). Yet five years on, his government is plagued by scandal.
“Twelve ministers have resigned since 2017 for ethical or legal problems” – the latest being Caroline Cayeux, who quit as local government minister last week, after a watchdog accused her of under-reporting her wealth in official declarations. Meanwhile, Macron’s top aide, Alexis Kohler, is facing a judicial probe for an alleged conflict of interest arising from his links to a Swiss-Italian shipping firm.
McKinsey probe
But by far the biggest headache the French president is now suffering was last month’s decision by anti-corruption prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into claims that the US consultancy firm McKinsey won government contracts because it had helped him with his 2017 and 2022 election campaigns.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Macron denies wrongdoing; but there’s no denying he’s close to McKinsey, said Annika Joeres in Die Zeit (Hamburg). Leaked emails have shown that about 20 of the firm’s employees “helped write Macron’s political programme” ahead of the 2017 election, and at least two former McKinsey staff gained influential positions in his government.
Is it just coincidence that state spending on consultancy firms has doubled on his watch? As a senate inquiry found this year, it hit an astonishing €1bn last year. But don’t forget, the EU has previously identified France as a “particularly corrupt country”, with the state losing an projected €123bn a year through “corrupt decisions”.
Not a smoking gun
Seen through that lens, things don’t exactly look rosy for Macron. But none of the evidence put forward so far amounts to a smoking gun, said Océane Herrero and Wladimir Garcin-Berson in Le Figaro (Paris). Sure, spending on consultancies has risen in recent years, but McKinsey’s share of the pie has been pretty small: the state contracts it won last year were an unspectacular €18m.
And much of the so-called “explosion” in the use of consultancies coincided with the pandemic, which put huge strains on government departments. The bigger picture is that France still spends less on consultancy firms than the likes of Britain and Germany.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Maybe so, said Ivanne Trippenbach, but opposition parties have still seized on this story as evidence that Macron’s government is drowning in sleaze. And at a time when French citizens are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, they may yet prove damaging to France’s divisive president.
-
Hollywood's new affection for the British smile
Talking Point Natural teeth are bucking the trend of the classic Hollywood smile
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 27, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: March 27, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The catastrophic conflict looming in the heart of Africa
In the Spotlight Showdown between DR Congo and Rwanda has been a long time coming
By The Week UK Published
-
Donald Trump's grab for the Panama Canal
The Explainer The US has a big interest in the canal through which 40% of its container traffic passes
By The Week UK Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published
-
Islamic State: the terror group's second act
Talking Point Isis has carried out almost 700 attacks in Syria over the past year, according to one estimate
By The Week UK Published
-
The New Jersey 'UFO' drone scare
In the Spotlight Reports of mysterious low-flying aircraft provoked outlandish theories, but old-fashioned hysteria appears to have been to blame
By The Week UK Published