For the past two weeks, the spotlight has inevitably been on François Hollande, France’s new socialist president. Last Tuesday, his first day in office, was not entirely happy: he got soaked during his triumphal progress, his plane was struck by lightning and Angela Merkel had to manoeuvre him forcibly around the red carpet. It can’t be easy scaling the learning curve. But what happens when it’s all over and you’re downgraded to being an ordinary citizen again?
Actually, there is no such thing as being an ordinary citizen once you have been president, except in one important respect: you lose immunity from prosecution for alleged misdemeanours. Nicolas Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in December 2011 for misusing public money as mayor of Paris during the 1990s. He is the only former president in the 5th Republic to have been tried in a criminal court. Sarkozy will continue to enjoy immunity for another month.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Former presidents can look forward to a monthly pension of €6,000 euros, a fully furnished and equipped apartment and office space funded out of the public purse. They also get two police officers to assure their security, a state car with two chauffeurs, a staff of seven and free business-class travel on Air France and SNCF (national rail company).
They also have the right, under Article 56 of the French Constitution, to sit on the Conseil Constitutionnel (Constitutional Council), for an additional stipend of €11,500 per month. The 11-member council verifies that laws voted by the Assemblée Nationale (Parliament) conform to the constitution before the President signs them off. Sarkozy will receive this emolument even if he returns to work as a lawyer, as he has suggested he might.
The annual cost of these benefits to the French state is estimated at around €1.5m per former president. Since there are three of them – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (86), Jacques Chirac (79) and now Nicolas Sarkozy (57) – this adds up to about €4.5m per year. Given the size of the French national debt, this is a fleabite, really.
On the one hand you could argue that none of these people actually needs the financial benefits, being personally well-off already. On the other, you could contend that this is probably a lot less than some captains of industry get when they retire. And the job of president is 24/7 for the duration. It mystifies me that anyone would want to do it.
Since losing to François Mitterrand in the presidential elections of 1981, Giscard d’Estaing has been active not only in promoting the Auvergne region but also on the European stage. But he has never managed to come back on a national level. Chirac has had health problems in addition to his conviction and it’s unlikely that he will play much part in public life again. It’s hard to imagine Sarkozy being content to return to the law. Politics is in his blood and I think he’ll find it hard to resist its siren call. 2017 is only five years away…
Copyright © 2012 Life on La Lune, all rights reserved
Life on La Lune 
They cost us a lot while they’re in power, they cost us a lot once they’re out of it! Talk about cushy! But as they say, money follows money. Perhaps I should suggest a career in politics to the kids in the hope they make president and have a bit of money to lavish on their aged parents!
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You can always hope, I suppose. You have to ask, though, if it isn’t fair enough that they get all this – compared with some heads of big companies it actually doesn’t add up to that much.
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I can’t imagine that Sarkozy will be content to go back to his law practice. Bet Carla wouldn’t like that either! It’s amazing how well the ‘ex’s’ are taken care of. I can’t give you figures, but ex-US presidents are cared for in a comparable manner. They and their families receive 24/7 Secret Service protection for life. Even if the ex-president dies, his widow continues to be protected.
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I didn’t know the widow continues to receive protection. So Nancy Reagan is protected for life, too.
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Well I never knew that and now I am wondering if there is an equivalent deal in the UK and Spain.
Was this info readily available or did it take a lot of searching?
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I don’t think the info is particularly secret. It was in all the papers. I didn’t check with any official websites but it was consistently reported everywhere so I imagine it must be in the public domain. I haven’t checked on the benefits they get in the UK but I think Thatcher still has security protection, although it’s considerably scaled down now.
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With those benefits I’ve half a mind to run for president myself – after all with fluent english, a general inability to understand or interpret anything anyone around me has to say, and a total disregard for french politics but an excellent ability to make it up as I go along, I reckon I have all the necessary attributes!
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Sounds like a perfect fit to me!
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