French auditor points to government's 'inappropriate' use of consultants

The French government has sometimes inappropriately used external consulting companies, the French court of auditors concluded in a report published to address public concerns over the externalisation of government business, in particular since Emmanuel Macron became president.

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) speaks at the Court of Auditors in January 2018. The Court has raised questions about Macron and the government's use of external consultants to conduct public business. © Ludovic Marin/Reuters

The Cour des comptes auditor on Monday said that hiring external consulting companies has become an easy option for government administrators facing tight budgets and time constraints, but it warned that consultants are intervening in domains they should not.

“The externalisation of part of the tasks of administrations does not call for an objection on principle,” the auditors wrote.

An external consultant can be a useful and efficient way to implement policy, “however, the practice has lead to an inappropriate use of consulting missions”.

Some consultants are taking on roles that should be kept in the public sphere, and the auditor said the state should bring some capabilities back into the civil service and call on its own employees whenever possible.

Citizen request

The court took on the issue after citizens requested an investigation, following a Senate report that was published in March 2022, a few weeks before the presidential election, that found that Macron and his ministers were too close to consultants like the US-based McKinsey.

• Costly consultancy fees put Macron on backfoot ahead of elections

According to the auditors, state spending on consultancies tripled between 2017, when Macron was first elected and 2021.

While two thirds of the 890 million euros spent on consultants in 2021 was for external work like IT, the rest is for intellectual and strategic work that could be considered the remit of public servants. 

Though the court noted that spending on consultancies amounted to just 0.04 percent of state spending last year.

Follow through on reforms

The court called on the government to "put the finishing touches" to a January 2022 circular that aimed at limiting use of consultancies, which had been issued "under the pressure of events".

The government says it had reduced spending on consultants by 35 percent between 2021 and 2022, and had imposed a two million euro limit on the amount that could be spent on any given company.

The Senate passed a bill in October to further limit the government’s dependence on consultants, but the National Assembly has yet to bring it to a debate.

(with newswires)