New culture minister for France

Fleur Pellerin has taken over from Aurélie Filippetti as culture and communications minister in the new government formed by prime minister Manuel Valls.
 
This is Pellerin’s third portfolio in the socialist government since president François Hollande was elected in May 2012. She was first junior minister for the digital economy and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and moved to foreign trade last April when Valls replaced Jean-Marc Ayrault as prime minister.
 
Matthieu de Montchalin, president of the French Booksellers Association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française, SLF) welcomed Pellerin’s appointment. "She is brilliant, a good listener, very pragmatic and, with her (recent) ministerial experience, should be operational immediately," he told The Bookseller. "She will probably place digital at the forefront of her programme, which comes at a good time, because digital has not yet taken off in France (and it is important) for booksellers to participate in its development."
 
Korean by birth, Pellerin was adopted by a French family and educated in some of France’s most prestigious schools.
 
The first Valls government resigned on Monday (25th August) after economy minister Arnaud Montebourg criticized current economic policy during the weekend. Filippetti, who said she did not seek a post in the new team, had been under fire over a number of issues and had been expected to be ousted at any time.
 
But the book industry gives Filippetti top marks. "She has an excellent record," de Montchalin said. "She fulfilled all Hollande’s election promises (for books), and took more concrete and positive measures for booksellers than any other culture minister in the past 20 or 30 years."