Emmanuel Macron maintains the course on the controversial reform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while announcing additional means to respond to the discontent of diplomats, faced with multiple crises – from the conflict in Ukraine to tensions in Africa, via the climate. The president had decided to organize the Estates General of Diplomacy to appease those who spoke out against it. At the end of these months of consultation, a 300-page report has just been made public.
This reform of the senior civil service aims to revolutionize the prestigious diplomatic corps, that is to say all the representatives of foreign powers to the government, as well as their families. This is to allow the opening of embassy posts to civil servants from other ministries.
This translates into Emmanuel Macron’s desire to ” adapt to a changing world », a volatile world, which requires adapting the French diplomatic tool to today’s needs.
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The government does not deny that the main strength of diplomacy is its diplomats: people capable of deploying on all fronts, able to take initiatives, negotiate on completely new issues: such as the climate, biodiversity. The strength of the diplomat is to be able in the long run to be more influential.
And we must not forget, as an editorialist in the French press points out, that diplomacy is a domain reserved for the head of state and that the president is also chief of the armed forces: Emmanuel Macron wants ” completely rearm French diplomacy to face the challenges » geopolitics of today’s world.
A reform that is not unanimous
Extremely rare, the agents of the Quai d’Orsay made June strike last to protest against this reform that some describe as ” snub because it attacks, according to them, the very concept of professional diplomacy. Many diplomats fear a loss of skills and prestige of the third global network that is that of France, behind the United States and China.
However, diplomats do not deny the need to develop diplomacy to adapt it to new international challenges, which have intensified since the war in Ukraine. But the French association of professional diplomats, founded at the end of last August, recalled ” the danger of seeing an increase in the proportion of officials unprepared for the challenges of diplomatic work “. She’s calling back ” the importance of preserving and strengthening professional diplomacy and the quiet but fundamental fieldwork that diplomats carry out “.
The government insists: we live in a changing world, hence the need to adapt. New heights such as one-summit are essential for international influence, they are also subjects on which diplomats are called upon. The experts, too, contribute to the influence of France.
Announcement of additional means
Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday a sharp increase in staff and resources allocated to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to put them in “ compliance ” with the ” ambitions of French diplomacy. He announced an increase over four years of ministry staff of 700 FTE (full rate jobs) » and an increase in his credits of « 20% to 7.9 billion euros.
The president wants to import stronger technical skills, bring in people from outside. He urges diplomats to add qualities from elsewhere which aims to increase exchanges and openness. Be innovative, versatile and able to deploy on all fronts.
Emmanuel Macron stressed that it was a ” rearmament in the service of peace, in the defense of our interests and our values, but also consistent with our ambition “while the means of the armies have already been increased since 2017.