It’s usually a hushed universe, but one that comes out of its reserve. The French diplomatic corps is not happy, and makes it known. It will be a historic strike day scheduled for this Thursday, June 2. Tongues are loosened on social networks in particular, with a keyword: #diplo2métier.
It is a movement that has been brewing for months, even years, crystallized by a reform that came into force in the midst of the presidential election: the publication in the Official Journal of a decree activating the abolition of the French diplomatic corps.
To sum things up, until then, senior civil servants attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent their entire careers there. It is now over: from 2023, they will join the “common pot” of State administrators and can be assigned to other ministries.
►Also read: France formalizes the abolition of its diplomatic corps
It will be the end, they fear, of professional diplomacy, which would have a detrimental effect on France’s action in the world. It’s a rare occurrence: 500 of these diplomats have published a Tribune with our daily colleagues The world to denounce this decree.
The keyword #diplo2métier
Since then, tongues have been loosened, with this keyword on social networks: #diplo2métier. These are hundreds of testimonials from diplomats and even sometimes from ambassadors in post. The content of the messages is often the same: support for tomorrow’s strike, a reminder that diplomacy is a profession, as the movement’s rallying cry indicates. This is a reminder to say that the positions are therefore not interchangeable, in particular because they affect very varied fields.
I will strike on June 2, against the suppression of the French diplomatic corps. You don’t improvise yourself as a diplomat, you become one. The Quai d’Orsay is not the ERASMUS Programme. #diplo2metier
— Brice Fodda (@Brice_Fodda) May 27, 2022
Examples taken from recent events are multiplying: war in Ukraine of course, evacuation in Afghanistan after the Taliban took power, repatriation of French people at the start of the pandemic. But closer to us: all the consular staff in charge of the daily life of French people abroad.
Behind this key word, all the professionals of diplomacy lift a veil on their job usually so secret, before the social movement planned for this Thursday, June 2, an unprecedented movement. The diplomats also receive the support of personalities, such as the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dominique de Villepin, who denounced on Twitter the abolition of the diplomatic corps and saw it as a historic fault. Yesterday, he still demanded the deletion of the project.
Foundations of diplomacy?
So what can be done after this strike action? The strikers call for the holding of assizes of diplomacy as soon as possible, to renew a dialogue with the executive. It remains to be seen if the latter will seize the ball on the leap. The recent appointment of Catherine Colonna could in any case favor this outcome. A career diplomat, his arrival at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seen by some as a message to the staff of the Quai d’Orsay, the sign of a desire to renew dialogue.
The construction site promises to be enormous. This decree putting an end to the diplomatic corps is in fact only the last spark which allowed the inferno to ignite. Agents have been complaining for years about a continuous reduction in their resources, whether human or financial. Emmanuel Macron’s first term did not help matters either, diplomacy being one of the president’s prerogatives.
This has been particularly marked in the last five years. The Head of State even took the liberty of scolding the diplomats by denouncing three years ago, in front of them, the existence of a deep state at the Quai d’Orsay. The rag is burning and French diplomacy has suffered since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. “What have been the major successes? asks an ambassador who is part of the movement.