#ConfAmbass: the road map of heads of diplomatic missions

MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from English to French –

As every year, the conference of ambassadors and ambassadors gave the orientations of the activities of the representatives of France abroad and with the international organizations. This year has been an opportunity to focus on the necessary reshaping of the world order and Europe, which must be more sovereign, united and democratic.

Opening the conference on 27 August, the President of the Republic recalled that in a context of unprecedented international tensions, the first Paris Peace Forum will be held on 11 November. The forum aims to strengthen collective action by involving states, international organizations, and civil society, as the world faces the twin crises of multilateralism and Europe.

The question of the security and defense of Europe is at the heart of the concerns of the Head of State, who welcomes the latest advances in this field (strengthening of the common defense policy, creation of a fund of defense to finance concrete initiatives, conclusion of strategic agreements with Germany, European intervention initiative). A project to strengthen solidarity in Europe in the area of ​​security will be presented in the coming months.

Recalling the difficult situation of Syria, which must nevertheless lead to the Syrian people being able to choose its leaders, and the progress made for the Sahel and Libya thanks to the support of France (creation of the joint forces G5 Sahel, the rise of the African Union, the Alliance for the Sahel …), Emmanuel Macron also recalled that "the absolute unilateralism and the commercial war" did not answer the shortcomings of the system of regulation of the international trade . To integrate the social and environmental requirements of each, a first conference will be held on the sidelines of November 11th. The negotiation and adoption of a new global environment pact is also a priority objective of French diplomacy.

The Prime Minister has therefore presented the following day the principles of implementation of this program, which provides for a budget of cultural cooperation stabilized in 2019 and increased resources for the policy of international solidarity (which will reach 0.55% of gross national income in 2022). This implementation consists in giving concrete means, daily and strategic, to manage each embassy with three levers:

A "local intelligence" means everyday, by a decompartmentalization of each embassy service. An evolution of the networks of the State abroad by profession and by geography, with evolutions and redeployments of jobs according to the priorities of each diplomatic post. Budget savings that will amount to 10% of the payroll by 2022, without undermining the universality of the diplomatic network, its security or the teaching of French in the world.

A "transformation contract" will be prepared by the end of the year to outline the objectives of this reform by 2022, while respecting the more general framework of the reform of the civil service ("Public Action 2022") based on the renewal of the social dialogue, increased recourse to contractors (especially for jobs that are not specific to the public service), the remodeling of the remuneration policy and support for conversion projects or mobility.

You see (…) what France needs to be at the height of both its vocation and its time. And to regain its full power, it needs a clear message, a boldness. We have it. She needs an orderly administration; a robust economy; sound public finances; qualified men and women. It needs innovation, investment. It needs a vision, especially in Europe.

Édouard Philippe

Quai d'Orsay Conference Center, August 28, 2018

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is a translation. Please forgive us should the grammar and / or sentence structure not be perfect.