The French Association of Professional Diplomats is chaired by Benjamin Weisz.
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In June 2023, we had, in these same columns, called for all the consequences of the remarkable work carried out by Jérôme Bonnafont and the entire team of the States General of Diplomacy to rebuild the cohesion of the ministry around its professions and safeguard the French diplomatic tool.
While our influence and credibility face unprecedented challenges on all continents, it is important to stick to reality and not illusorily decorrelate our foreign policy from the concrete management of the human and material resources responsible for implementing it. artwork.
We should not overestimate the importance of the latest ranking of world diplomacy published by the Lowy Institute, according to which France would have fallen in 2023 to fifth position behind China, the United States, Turkey and Japan.
If we have to read something into it, it is more the growing awareness by our partners of the need for massive investment in diplomacy than the downgrading of our own system.
Until now, we have preserved – and this is essential – a universal network capable of allowing us to defend our national interests and to have a say in all the major international issues on which the future of our country and our country depends. continent.
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It is therefore not so much this classification which should worry us, but rather the double constraint which is exerted on the quality of our diplomatic system due, on the one hand, to the attrition of the resources allocated to it and, on the other hand, the risk of dilution of the know-how of our diplomats.
In terms of resources, our diplomatic posts operate today with extremely limited human and financial resources, which can place them in a situation of extreme fragility.
In most countries in the world, the defense of France's interests and the protection of our fellow citizens living abroad or passing through depends daily only on the exemplary commitment of the small number of professional agents, of all categories. , who chose this profession by vocation, and who face increasing security, health and political pressures.
While France's foreign policy represents barely 1% of the state budget, it is on this ministry that the decree of February 21, 2024 inflicts the largest proportional budget cut.
The French Association of Professional Diplomats
In this regard, the visit of the President of the Republic on March 16, 2023 to the premises of the Quai d'Orsay was a sign of hope.
On this occasion, the president recognized the
“specificities”
of the diplomatic profession and committed to
“rearming our diplomacy by giving the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs the means to achieve its ambitions”
, through a 20% increase in the budget and the creation of 700 jobs between 2023 and 2027. Finally interrupting a reduction in resources which had lasted thirty years, this commitment had begun to result in the creation of 265 new jobs in 2023 and 2024, as well as an increase in the budget by almost €300 million compared to 2023.
A year later, the findings are alarming.
While France's foreign policy represents barely 1% of the state budget, it is on this ministry that the decree of February 21, 2024 inflicts the largest proportional budget cut.
De facto, the increase that had been planned for 2024 for the State's external action is reduced by almost 60%, in contradiction with the commitments of the President of the Republic.
The expected rearmament of the ministry is seriously threatened, devitalizing the transformation agenda desired by our political authorities.
The recruitment and training of professionals that our diplomacy so badly needs risks being weakened.
In terms of preserving and strengthening the know-how of our diplomats, the reform of the senior civil service has created a single body of senior civil servants who are interchangeable from one ministry to another.
People without diplomatic experience may be invited to occupy key positions within our network for which they have not been trained, while those who have been trained with public money to exercise these professions may be paid in spite of themselves. in other sectors not directly related to their experience or skills.
In addition to the weakening of our diplomatic tool to which it risks leading, this reform will paradoxically have had, moreover, a high cost which will deserve to be quantified by the competent authorities.
Our professional diplomacy must be preserved and the rearmament of its human and budgetary resources must be strengthened.
The French Association of Professional Diplomats
The budget and staff reductions experienced over several decades by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs resulted from the perception of a peaceful world after the end of the Cold War.
Many of our partners have since realized that times have changed profoundly and that material and human investment in the diplomatic apparatus and development aid constitutes one of the fundamental conditions for their stability and future prosperity – without doubt more than ever at a time of great global challenges.
To be effective, foreign policy must aim for the long term and demonstrate consistency, credibility and predictability.
Our professional diplomacy must be preserved and the rearmament of its human and budgetary resources must be strengthened.
With war now upon us, France cannot afford the luxury of investing at a loss in reforms that would wipe out its diplomats and treat its diplomatic apparatus as an adjustment variable.
Our foreign policy must not only be carried out by experts entirely dedicated to their task and driven by the general interest, but must have the means to influence wherever, in the world, crises threaten to spread and have consequences for our citizens and our national security.