Suppression of diplomatic corps could leave France without professional diplomats
The announcement by the government that it is getting rid of the diplomatic corps in France as part of its public sector overhaul has sparked concern from diplomats and politicians, especially in light of the Ukraine crisis.
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Diplomats will no longer be sourced from the French ministry for Foreign Affairs as is currently the case. Instead they will be hired from different backgrounds in both the public and private sectors.
The official announcement to do away with the diplomatic corps was published in the government's Official Journal dating 17 April.
The wide-reaching reform of the public sector began with the replacement of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (National School of Administration) by the Institut National du Service Public as of 1 January 2022.
The ENA founded by Charles de Gaulle at the end of World War II was set up to train presidents and senior civil servants in the art of governance.
Believed by many to be a symbol of elitism, the president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to close it in the wake of the Yellow Vest crisis, but later settled for a reform and a change of name.
From 2023, diplomats will find themselves working side by side with police chiefs, finance inspectors and other high-level public servants under the banner "state administrative corps".
The government has defended its reform, saying it would make the public service about "employment" rather that "status" and therefore more operational.
The announcement has riled several politicians and those in diplomatic circles.
France's former ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud said he regrets the fact that France will become "the only Western country without professional diplomats", while former foreign affairs minister Michel Barnier described the overhaul as "an error".
Fear of cronyism
"Emmanuel Macron wants to replace impartial state workers with cronyism," Marine Le Pen, the far right candidate running in the second round of presidential elections on Sunday, said.
Far-left leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third in first round voting for the presidency, also expressed his concern over the "destruction of a diplomatic network" that "dated back several centuries".
Former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal also wondered how "such a decision of this kind could be possible without a vote in parliament, in between two election rounds".
According to France Info reporters who spoke to people at the diplomatic headquarters at Quai d'Orsay in Paris, the changes to the system are seen as a form of "demotion".
Some diplomats see it as a form of "punishment", perhaps in connection to remarks made by president Emmanuel Macron in 2019 when he accused diplomats of inhibiting his rapprochement with Russia.
Others consider it very bad timing in light of the Ukraine crisis and could weaken France's elbow room in external affairs.
Diplomats have also expressed their concern that field intelligence will be lost and the nominations for top jobs will become politicised, as is often the case in the United States.
In May last year, over 50 diplomats and civil servants from the ministry of foreign affairs signed an opinion piece in Le Monde newspaper criticising Macron's reform, calling it "dangerous".
"It will lead to favoritism, and will take away the neutrality necessary for these agents, whose expertise will be undervalued and seen simply as a commercial transaction : who wants an ambassador with a political label?" the statement asked.
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