But no date is advanced for their publication

Transparency in the functioning of the State has its limits. Ten months after the launch of the first "modernisation audits" of the administration, an original approach initiated by the Minister of the Budget, Jean-François Copé, rooting out without taboos unnecessary public spending, the exercise looks like less operation truth.

While the Government still had strong "publish the results", both for "closer to the State of the citizen" and, especially, for departments to their responsibilities, list of unpublished reports continues to lie. To date, three waves of audits were the subject of refunds. The first seventeen work been put online, in January, on the site of the Ministry of economy and finance. There are reports however little self-indulgent for administration, such as the Organization of National Education examinations. For example, it shows that the actual cost of examinations, the order of EUR 150 million per year, would be two times higher than the assessment of the Department and suggests ways of savings. Recommendations that national Education account partly implement to win 400 to 500 positions in its 2007 budget.

The practice is gaining ground

The publication of the second wave, in April, has already proved more problematic since, on the 20 carried out audits, 4 are always searchable and available: on the control and management of the fishery, on compensation for the denial of public service, on airport security competitions and, especially, on the schedule of lessons in high school. This has not prevented the Government to publish certain sensitive audits such as on the statutory discharges of teachers, whose findings should lead to the deletion of 3,000 posts in budget 2007. But the practice to keep under the elbow audit reports is gaining ground. On the 19 work carried out during the third wave, which return took place in June, eight have not been made public. And, among them, are, again, the themes relating to Education, as the schedule lessons in colleges, high schools and lycées, whose reform could see the day to back to 2008. Additional time that would have negotiated, inter alia, by the Rue de Grenelle, arguing its significant participation in budgetary rationalization effort 8.700 deletions of planned posts in 2007 his worth already two school revenues to top risk, in 2006 and 2007. Better therefore to take the time the demining field with teachers ' unions. Officially, Bercy and the Rue de Grenelle ensure that these audits are still in phase of "Ministerial contradiction". But no date is advanced for their publication.

"In too dangerous tools.

In fact, it is, more broadly, to a crop of this exercise is conducting the Government at the time because the sparked irritation in departments, by these repeated and evaluations for the sake of control subjects to the approach of the presidential campaign. This summer, the Prime Minister issued a circular on the "conduct of the audits of modernization" which is interpreted by several ministerial advisors as a recovery in hand. "Audits are tools too dangerous to be left in the hands of Bercy," says one of them. The head of the Government indicates, inter alia, in this circular, that the programming of the audits will be now subject to "its arbitration" and "must be better early, to improve the scope and effectiveness". Even, he said, should be now, "leaving more room" for "trade with the administrations concerned. The message is clearly read, in the departments, such as a limitation of the powers of Bercy, the Minister of the Budget Jean-François Copé being ask to form a "Steering Committee" audits that will have to account to Matignon. A fourth wave must be returned before the presentation, this fall, the draft finance law. And made public