French draft budget earmarks €2.3 million for Macron's post-presidency offices
France's draft budget for next year includes a €2.3 million provision to set up furnished offices for President Emmanuel Macron after he leaves office. The sum also covers rent, service charges and security for six years.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to leave the Élysée Palace in about seven months, and the cost of his departure is already being written into the state budget. The draft French budget for next year, now being debated in parliament, contains a €2.3 million provision to help Macron move into furnished offices, according to a parliamentary report POLITICO obtained first.
The amount also pays for rent, service charges and security over the next six years.
What former presidents receive
Former French presidents are entitled to a set of lifelong benefits: a pension, offices, a chauffeur and police protection. During the first five years after leaving office they may employ up to seven staff; after that the limit is three.
Two living former presidents currently use these arrangements, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, although Hollande has since returned to parliament as a lawmaker. Last month Hollande said he receives a €5,000 monthly pension for his Élysée years, in addition to pensions from earlier roles and his present income.
Macron's plans
The Élysée told POLITICO the provision was a precautionary measure based on the experience of previous presidents. Macron does not yet appear to have found his next workplace.
He will be 49 when he steps down, making him the youngest president in modern French history, and has pledged not to draw his presidential pension. He has kept his post-presidency plans private, so it is unclear how far he intends to stay in politics.
The constitution bars him from seeking a third consecutive term, but he can run for president again once his successor takes office. He has not ruled out doing so.
