French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has sent letters to his ministers urging them to make the administrative organization simpler and more efficient. He has identified 70 simplification measures and provided them with a corresponding roadmap. Matignon expects savings, without specifying figures.
Sébastien Lecornu, the French head of government, has initiated a rationalization of public action by sending personalized letters to each of his ministers. In these letters, he instructs them to make the administrative organization « more simple » and « therefore more efficient ». He stresses that « public action must be readable by our citizens as well as by all the agents who provide public service ».
This principle is based on identifying a « single responsible » per public policy, whether a minister, a prefect, or an elected official. Lecornu applies this clarity first to the State, its services, and its agencies. He aims to tackle the « millefeuille administratif »—the layered administrative structure—and the distribution of competencies between the State and local authorities, a recurring challenge for many governments without lasting concrete results.
The Prime Minister promises a « break » in this approach. In September 2025, shortly after his appointment, he had regretted that, in the wake of the post-« yellow vests » grand débat, « we should have turned the table by saying that the time had come to rethink the organization of the State ». Faced with the « dilution of responsibilities » and « additional costs », he asserts that « the time has come to act » on this reform. Ministers are thus called upon to carry out the necessary cleanup to improve administrative efficiency.
