The acronym "ENA" disappears. Except abroad where the recognized brand would be kept, under the name of "ENA international" ... An in-between illustrating the difficulties faced by Frédéric Thiriez, who officially released on February 18 his report on the reform of the ENA and the senior civil service. The lawyer at the Council of State and at the Court of Cassation, former president of the professional football league, had been commissioned in April by Emmanuel Macron to make proposals. With a roadmap constrained by presidential promises, launched in the middle of the yellow vests crisis.
In April, the president announced the outright abolition of the training school for senior officials, taken as a symbol of the divorce between France and its elites. You have to select young people “ in the image of society ”, “ according to their merit and not their social or family origin ”, he explained then. And finish with “ the protection for life ” enjoyed by the enarques in “the great bodies” (the best selected in the “boot” through the exit classification to integrate the Council of State, the Court of Auditors and the 'Inspection des finances).
"Deadly corporatism"
After months of procrastination, hearings (more than 250) of dissension within the Thiriez mission and exchanges with the executive - the report was expected at the end of November - Frédéric Thiriez made his proposals to the Prime Minister. The latter will announce the outlines of the reform in April.
In France, the ENA becomes the “EAP” for “School of public administration”. Simple grooming? In this 95-page report, the Thiriez mission suggests, among other things, the end of the exit classification, the end of the body of the financial inspectorate, the burial of the general culture test and the establishment of a "special competition" for students selected on social criteria, a system of positive discrimination, Sciences Po way.
Because the observation made by the Thiriez mission is severe. " The democratization desired by the founding fathers of 1945 is not there , asserts the report. The sons of executives still represent 70% of promotions and this figure has not decreased for 30 years ”. The possible exit in the “big bodies” “ guarantees to the happy chosen (12 or 15 out of 80 according to the years) a career if not brighter, at least much more varied than the others, and this, on the basis of a simple note encrypted ” . From the National Institute for Territorial Studies (Inet) to the School of Magistrates, passing through the Police School, the proliferation of large schools of public service "is detrimental to the emergence of a common culture among large servants of the State who (...) promotes a fatal corporatism and feeds ignorance, even contempt for one another, "states the report.
A six-month "core curriculum"
To " decompartmentalize the senior civil service ", the Thiriez mission proposes for successful candidates in the administrative competitions of seven schools - the former ENA, the School of Magistrates, the School of Police, the School of Administration prison, the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health, the National School of Social Security and the National Institute of Territorial Studies - a six-month "core curriculum", most of which would take place in the field. It would include three weeks of superior military preparation, three weeks devoted to the supervision of young people of the universal national service (SNU) and four months of operational training. Students would then join their "application school".
The exit classification, " an archaism whose maintenance can only be explained by ease " according to the report, would be deleted, giving way to an allocation procedure " by bringing together offers and requests ". But the system of large bodies would not be totally abandoned. In order to " break the rent effect ", the inspection bodies, like the General Inspectorate of Finance, would be transformed into functional jobs. The jurisdictional bodies (the Council of State and the Court of Auditors) would be retained, but recruitment would be postponed after leaving school: after four years of service, civil servants could be candidates.
Exit the famous "composition" of general culture
How to open the future “EAP” socially? Twenty new “equal opportunities” classes - at least one per region -, grouping students selected on social criteria could open. A special competition would be aimed at them, " within the limit of 10 to 15% of the number of promotions ". One way to establish quotas. Finally, the mission proposes to delete " socially discriminating tests ". Exit, therefore the famous "composition" of general culture. Make way for a " note on file on the major challenges of the contemporary world ".
Finally, as has been widely mentioned for months, the Thiriez mission suggests the establishment of a kind of "war school", called "Institute for Advanced Studies in Public Service". It would provide, in mid-career, joint training for senior civil servants, magistrates, gendarmerie officers and soldiers wishing to progress.
Calendar? The year 2022 for the first recruitments. Provided that the legislative and regulatory texts pass before September 2020.
