What is the difference between minister and secretary of state?

The government’s complete list is still awaited. We do not yet know, as of Wednesday morning, the names of the secretaries of state, the delegated ministers or even certain ministers.

The new executive is revealed little by little. If some portfolios have already been given, the complete list of ministers, secretaries of state and delegated ministers is still awaited on Wednesday February 7 in the morning. But what are the differences and specificities of its functions?

The ministers

Also called full ministers, they are at the head of an administration and deal with one or more files. This is called the ministerial portfolio and it can change with each reshuffle. For example, that of Bruno Le Maire in Bercy has expanded since 2017. He has, in fact, gone from Minister of the Economy and Finance to Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty .

The delegated ministers

Depending on the size of the portfolio, ministers may be assisted by delegate ministers, who exercise their function under the Prime Minister or under another minister. They are responsible more specifically for a domain. Unlike ministers, who systematically meet every Wednesday at the Élysée for the Council of Ministers around the President of the Republic, delegate ministers do not necessarily go there. Their participation or not is specified in the decree which details the composition of the government.

Secretaries of State

Like delegated ministers, they are often under the supervision of a minister or the Prime Minister. However, state secretaries are the members of the government who have the least room for maneuver. They also do not attend the Council of Ministers except when a question that directly concerns them is scheduled on the agenda.

Ministers of State

This is a title given more rarely. For example, there was none under the governments of Élisabeth Borne and Jean Castex. Being a Minister of State is above all an honorary title, particularly to underline the importance of the portfolio. For example, ecology in recent years has been led several times by ministers of state, such as Nicolas Hulot or François de Rugy. The objective in appointing a Minister of State is therefore to display a government priority, but not only that, since the Minister of State stands out from the other ministers, arriving very high in the protocol, just after the Prime Minister.