At the Quai d'Orsay, the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are hectic moments. For the second time in its history – the first was in 2003 – yesterday, some of its diplomats went on strike in protest against the reform, decided by President Emmanuel Macron, which eliminates their prestigious specific professional career to open it to any high-ranking official. of the State.
Diplomats have the constitutional right to strike but it is very rare for them to do so. They are an exclusive and proud body, rich in traditions, an embodiment of grandeur. France was for a long time the second country in the world with the most extensive diplomatic network, second only to the United States. Today –according to the ministerial website itself– it ranks third, as China has taken the lead.
Macron's reform, approved by decree in the middle of the Easter holidays, foresees the "extinction" of two very important diplomatic corps: the foreign affairs advisers and the plenipotentiary ministers. In total, there are 800 people among the 13,500 who depend on the Quai d'Orsay. Those affected will have to choose between continuing in bodies condemned to disappear or joining the single body of State administrators.
The president's intention is to combat corporatism and encourage mobility within the administration, to make it more efficient and modern. Along the same lines is the elimination of the mythical and elitist National School of Administration (ENA), a breeding ground for high-ranking officials, and its replacement by the Public Service Institute.
The changes have generated much criticism and resistance. Former Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian himself, who held the post during Macron's first term, opposed the reform.
Six unions called the strike and 500 diplomats joined, but many others, even in ambassadorial positions, showed solidarity. Guarantees were given, in any case, that the protest action would not endanger France's interests in the world or the care of its nationals.
In a column published in Le Monde newspaper, the strikers warned of the "risk of disappearance of our professional diplomacy", of the temptation of political appointments, as the United States does, of "the destruction of careers", "the loss of knowledge" and “a crisis of vocations”.
From the ministry iron is removed from the controversy and it is underlined that the reform includes guarantees to be able to promote highly qualified personnel, for example in the domain of languages. All in all, the reduction in troops has been a worrying reality for a few years.
The robust French diplomatic network has always been an attribute of international power, a status that Paris assumes due to its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, as a country with its own nuclear deterrent and with overseas departments and territories –colonial heritage– scattered all over the planet. The Quai d'Orsay costs 5,000 million euros a year, approximately 1% of the total state budget.
