On 26 August 2014 he was appointed Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries ("Secrétaire d’État chargé des Transports, de la Mer et de la Pêche"), a junior minister of cabinet rank within the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, in the Second Valls Government. Incidents during this time have included the 2015 Thalys train attack and the 2016 strikes in protest against his government's changes to employment law and the 35-hour week.