In the midst of an international crisis, France changes Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jean-Yves Le Drian finally gives way to Catherine Colonna, current ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Catherine Colonna returns today to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where she had been Minister Delegate under Jacques Chirac after having been spokesperson for the Presidency of the Republic from 1995 to 2004.
She is a career diplomat with a particularly European flair. Arrived in London in 2019 a few months before the entry into force of Brexit, she has since been on the front line in the management of tensions between France and the United Kingdom, on fishing licenses in particular. This has also earned him to be summoned by the British government.
Recognized diplomat
At the start of François Hollande’s mandate in 2014, Catherine Colonna was ambassador to Italy. In this post-economic crisis period, the objective was then to grow and rebuild a certain European idea that was undermined in public opinion.
A huge thank you to the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister for the trust and honor they have placed in me.
—Catherine Colonna (@AmbColonna) May 20, 2022
She also represented France at Unesco (2008-2010) and at the OECD (2017-2019) but knew how to allow herself to change course with an incursion into the world of cinema in 2004, at the head of the National Center of Cinematography, and as vice-president of the Cannes Film Festival the same year. She also worked in the private sector at the communication consulting firm Brunswick, where she was responsible for coordinating the offer of the group’s European branches in public affairs.
hard worker
Just graduated from the ENA, she began her career at the Embassy in Washington and quickly forged the reputation of being a hard worker, enemy of imprecision with a great ability to explain the most complex questions. .
Dexterity in complexity, she will need it since she takes over from Jean-Yves Le Drian in the middle of the war in Ukraine with Clément Beaune promoted Minister of European Affairs by her side.
► To read also: France: the government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled
Catherine Colonna also arrives in a ministry plagued by “malaise”, where a strike call has been launched for June 2 by six unions and a group of 400 young diplomats. They protest against an accumulation of reforms, particularly that enacting the gradual “extinction” by 2023 of the prestigious diplomatic corps.
The appointment of a career diplomat who knows the Quai d’Orsay perfectly can be seen as a sign of goodwill, some diplomats say. ” It will be necessary to judge on parts », Considers another, more cautious, affirming that Catherine Colonna has « a disastrous reputation in terms of management “.