In the midst of the war in Ukraine, the formalization of the “extinction” of the two most prestigious French diplomatic corps has angered some diplomats and political leaders. In the decree published in Official newspaper Sunday, April 17, two bodies are concerned: the “foreign affairs advisers” and the “plenipotentiary ministers”. At the top of the diplomatic pyramid, these grades allow access to the posts of ambassador. They will henceforth be part of a single body of “state administrators”.
From 2023, a prefect, an Inspector General of Finance or an administrative executive trained at the ENA will be able to become ambassadors in one of the 160 French embassies, the third largest diplomatic network in the world. This measure marks a new stage in the reform of the senior civil service initiated by Emmanuel Macron, after the replacement of the National School of Administration (ENA) by the National Institute of Public Service (INSP).
Franceinfo interviewed young women and young men who entered the Quai d’Orsay through an extremely selective competition, most of them recently. These senior civil servants are between 25 and 32 years old, they work at the Quai d’Orsay or are stationed abroad, or aspire to enter there. They wished to remain anonymous (their first name has therefore been changed) in order to respect the “duty of reserve” imposed on all public service employees.
Paul*, enarque and senior civil servant: “There are lifetime annuities for bad managers”
“I am a senior civil servant, but not yet at the Quai d’Orsay. I would like to integrate it eventually. This reform will therefore benefit me. It does not amount to placing professional managers, but to opening up the pool sufficiently to be able to recruit good managers and reabsorb the enormous paradox of the Quai d’Orsay. This ministry deals with a noble, fascinating subject: international relations. But there are lifetime annuities for bad managers. We prefer the profiles of experts There is real moral suffering: extensive working hours (from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., not counting night shifts), numerous divorces, cases of moral harassment despite inspections which tend to multiply…
“The reform will make it possible to vary the profiles of experts in international relations. There is a package in each ministry. To Solidarity, to Health, to the Armies, to Culture…”
Paul*, enarque aspiring to join the Quai d’Orsayat franceinfo
We’re not about to see someone out [d’un cabinet de conseil] appointed ambassador. At least that won’t be the norm. This idea is a fumigation led by diplomats in the process of becoming ambassadors. They have been the spearheads of criticism against the reform. The nominees will necessarily be passionate, since the nominations follow priorities for each embassy. In Iran, for example, you have to know about nuclear; in Lebanon, the issues revolve more around the Francophonie.”
Stanislas*, Secretary of Foreign Affairs: “Being a diplomat requires experience”
“This reform is poorly justified, it plays above all its role of announcement effect. After the crisis of the ‘yellow vests’, it was a question of breaking certain totems, thinking that that would be enough. In this case, abolishing a system of annuity for life.The government sells us a kind of reformism, whereas that does not change anything, as for the deception of the replacement of the ENA.
No, the ‘diplomatic corps’ is not deleted. Two out of five bodies are removed and replaced. There are still the secretaries, category A. INSP students will still be assigned to the Quai after school. They can always stay there for almost their entire career, as was the case when they left ENA. The contest to become an adviser will be deleted, but it will be replaced by a copy-paste: a contest that will technically lead to the INSP. We will therefore continue to recruit specialists.
In the short term, we will therefore see little difference, but in the long term, the reform will be detrimental. Tomorrow, if all the administrators have facilities to come, it is probable that the senior civil servants of the INSP will exchange the beautiful positions, without being seasoned diplomats. We do not measure the diplomatic risk that this represents, because we do not consider that being a diplomat requires experience. However, it is a very special job, where it is not just a question of supervising a team. Unlike other civil servants, a diplomat does not regulate: he does not write decrees, decrees, does not create rules, does not apply them. Our job is to negotiate with foreign countries, to represent.
“With the reform, we will surely have someone with many diplomas, but a poor diplomat. We will no longer be as influential and efficient, while France is known for that.”
Stanislas*, Secretary of Foreign Affairsat franceinfo
Let’s take the example of the negotiators on the Iranian nuclear issue: they already knew each other before the negotiations, they had done others together… There was a relationship of trust. We cannot ask someone from the Finance Inspectorate to go to a country and understand where the representatives of this country come from, what they defend and why they defend it.
Léa*, Foreign Affairs Advisor: “The appointments of ambassadors risk being more political”
“I signed the column ‘What will be a diplomacy without diplomats…’, published in The world November 8, 2021. There is a great opacity in imposing a reform on us without having been consulted, or without needing it. We do not know exactly what sauce we are going to be eaten, what career prospects or remuneration we will have.
The appointments of ambassadors are also likely to be more political. This is already sometimes the case, since ambassadors are appointed by the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. For example, there was the writer Jean-Christophe Rufin in Senegal under Nicolas Sarkozy, the novelist Philippe Besson at the Los Angeles consulate under Emmanuel Macron.
“Who tells us that tomorrow, the authorities will not defend the interests of a foreign country? With the rise of the far right, we must remain vigilant as to the diplomacy we want for the country.”
Léa*, Foreign Affairs Advisorat franceinfo
Thomas *, Secretary of Foreign Affairs: “I fear that we will break the diplomatic tool”
“By favoring cronyism, by reserving an increasing number of positions for people from outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I fear that we will break the diplomatic tool that we have, where internal training is done at the When you arrive at the Quai d’Orsay, there is no manual that dictates what a diplomat is.
This trial of intention which reproaches us for being completely closed surprises us. The opening already exists. A non-negligible proportion of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs come from other public functions. These agents are on secondment from the Ministries of Agriculture, National Education, Ecology, Culture… On the contrary, diplomats go on mobility in another ministry, a company, an international or European organization…”
Fanny*, Secretary of Foreign Affairs: “Other reforms are urgently needed”
“This reform is a real snub for diplomats: it deconstructs diplomacy and will weaken our diplomatic network. In the same way that you would not ask your eye surgeon to operate on your liver, here we take the risk of having people who don’t know what they’re talking about, or how to negotiate.
Many other reforms are urgent at the ministry. That was last on the priority list. There is an urgent need to end toxic management practices. It is also necessary to go beyond the varnish of feminization. Only 28% of ambassadors are women. Furthermore, I find that the ministry does not provide enough support to the families of diplomats, women as well as men, for example by offering the spouse sufficient language training or support for employment.
The choices are not easy for anyone, as children are tossed from country to country. But the difficulty is heightened for women diplomats, especially young women. Their spouses remain less flexible and constrain the possibilities of leaving for distant destinations. To go to Asia or the Middle East, a woman will therefore make more sacrifices than her male colleague.
Isabelle*, Secretary of Foreign Affairs: “I wanted to work at the ministry, not elsewhere”
“I am a secretary at the ministry, and this reform affects us indirectly. We could go from category A to category A+ during our career, which made it possible to become a manager. It was my wish. There, with the abolition of the body of advisers, this career perspective is disappearing.
“I feel like I signed a contract for 42 years, and we tore it up without really knowing what we signed up for.”
Isabelle*, Secretary of Foreign Affairsat franceinfo
This will also change our destinations: the more numerous people nominated from elsewhere will want ‘flashy’ positions, such as New York or London, which are already very crowded. Result: for career diplomats, we will have less ‘fun’ and more dangerous places.
Foreign secretaries dread being next in line. That after the pooling of A+ graded bodies in the senior civil service, we pool A bodies. If that were the case, I could potentially land as a manager in a high school, work in a town hall or run a media library. However, if I did not pass the competition of one of the IRA, the regional institutes of administration, it is that I wanted to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Not elsewhere.”
* The first names have been changed at the request of the interested parties.