Nicolas Beytout 11:18 am, November 12, 2021

The reform of the senior civil service, which notably provides for the abolition of the diplomatic corps, is feared by senior officials. They will be brought together under the same statute, that of State administrators. Europe 1 columnist Nicolas Beytout sees "a decline in the ambitions of French diplomacy in the world".

The creation of a new body, state administrators, is not trivial.

This statute, which is the subject of a decree examined, must bring together senior officials from the various administrations such as prefects and general inspectors.

This is the consequence of the reform of the senior civil service, launched by President Emmanuel Macron, which must also act on the abolition of the ENA.

For the editorialist Nicolas Beytout, the government is taking a new step with the creation of this new body, which risks relegating French diplomacy a little more to the background in the world.

6,000 executives will lose belonging to their original corps

The creation of a new body, that of state administrators, seems quite technical.

But the reality is that this new entity will bring together a good part of the highest leaders of the French administration, those who are currently members of the famous large bodies of the State: prefects, diplomats, magistrates of the Court of Auditors, general inspectors.

These are nearly 6,000 senior executives, as one would say in the private sector, who will be classified under the same status.

And therefore lose, gradually, their belonging to their original body.

This is the other side of the abolition of the ENA: it also abolishes the distinctive signs of belonging to a certain elite, that of prefects for example, state councilors or high-ranking diplomats.

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Too closed a public service?

For the government, this reform will allow the public service to be less closed.

What is most often reproached with today's large bodies is the inter-self and the fact, when you enter it, of being assured of having a clear professional history, sheltered from professional hazards or changes in the profession.

A few months ago, in front of hundreds of senior officials, Emmanuel Macron argued that the ENA and its exit ranking "sealed fates at 25, for better and sometimes for worse".

There it is, the mistrust.

To be a member of a great body is to have a planned career, it is to be protected.

It is above all to wear the distinctive signs of belonging to an elite.

Which is obviously unbearable in these times of "light populism".

So we remove them, all these external signs of influence.

Prefects, members of the Council of State or of the Finance Inspectorate will still exist, but their recruitment will no longer be the same.

Diplomats, too, will lose part of what makes their community, their collective history.

And it is difficult not to see in this disappearance a manifestation of the decline in the ambitions of French diplomacy in the world.

The great hours of French diplomacy are disappearing

However, there will always be embassies, with ambassadors, diplomats in France and abroad.

But, part of who they are will gradually fade, as their bodies become diluted.

First of all, an embassy is a place of representation which must reflect the image of France.

It must reflect the prestige, the power of our country and those who occupy it must be at this level of requirement.

French diplomacy is not a set of executives superimposed on a group of high potentials who are taught the béaba of international relations, the history of civilizations and contemporary conflicts.

It is not the same knowledge as to be inspector general of national education, or prefect.

The skills are not the same, the characters are not the same.

Doing away with this kind of big body means doing away with a sector of excellence.

And what is worrying is that all of this is happening while the heyday of French diplomacy is already fading away.

The budget of the embassies is miserable, and the strike power of our representatives abroad has gradually weakened in recent years.

The most striking example of this sad reality can be found in Brussels, where the French representation is now overtaken by German diplomacy.

Our presence in the mysteries of the European Community has taken a back seat.

Our influence is losing.

And it is not with something like this new body of state administrators that the trend will be reversed.