03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

MANAGING SENIOR MANAGEMENT : SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE : THE PRINCIPLES

• Career-based system (800 professional bodies, and 300 statutarian positions)

• Philippe « Le Bel », Colbert, Bonaparte, Debré inheritances

• Politically neutral • « Republican elitism » : recruited through high competitive

examinations and training at the beginning of the career in special institutes (ENA first !)

• Political choices for the extreme « top management » (« soft « spoil system »)

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE : the specificities

• Civil service : 4.5 billions servants, three parts (State (2.4), Local (1.4), Health (0.9)),

• 800 professional bodies• Career-based systems with some nuances :

– 19 specific professionnal bodies (« corps ») (12 out of ENA (National School of Administration, 7 out of Polytechnics Institute) = 13 000 senior civil servants

– 800 top positions, pulled off from our « corps » system. Special status, special appointments, special wages (but simply organised in a pyramid…)

• Centralised recruitment

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

Number and median age in french senior civil service Professional bodies Number

(01.01.02) Median age

Professional bodies ENA Administrative civil executives 2861 47.5

Administrative judges 971 46.6

Diplomats 757 45.9 Local administration 522 48 Regional financial court 427 50 Financial Court 364 50 Council of State 300 49.3 Financial Inspection 196 46.6 Foreign trade 187 46 Paris municipal administration 179 46.8 Social affairs inspection 144 47.5 Administrative inspection 62 45 Total ENA 6759 Professional bodies X Agriculture and Forest 2244 46.4 Transport infrastructures 1281 47.3 Weapons 1277 39.6 Telecommunication 742 41.9 Statistics 627 43 Mines 426 39.1 Insurance control 71 41 Total X 6668

Total ENA + X 13427

Source : commission for reforming ENA

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE : the achievements

• Loyalty (low level of corruption)• Excellent academic level in the first

jobs• Unions support• Real capacities of adaptation (ex:

developpement of position-based statutes, special statutes)

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE : the drawbacks

• Global complexity• Implicit hierarchy of professional bodies• Lack of mobility (only one in the statutes of the

professional bodies and always at the beginning ot the career, historical traditions of in-departments career)

• Priority to academic competences rather than professional • Weakness of whole-of-government policies• Low development of managerial competences because of

weakness of longlife training in this kind of matters• One-way bridge to private sector

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN FRANCE : the challenges

• Demographic gap/new law on pensions : difficulties of recruitment over the next 10 years or opportunities for reshaping our organisation

• More recruitment of specialists rather than global experts ? (present trend for median civil executives)

• Recruitment of European Union civil executives (legal adaptations)

• merit-based appointments (social peace versus necessity of promoving performance)

• Bridges between the three parts of our civil service and between private and public sectors (ethical problems, appointments, wages, bonus etc.)

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE IN France : the future ?

• Present concern of our government• More position-based system and end of stability

in position (new act in 2002 : only twice 3 years in a same position)

• Opening up of recruitment (end of « corporatism») = end of monopoly of ENA and X ?

• More emphasis on mobilities • Performance-related pay• Pools of future leaders ?

03/10/2003 DIRECTION GENERALE DE L’ADMINISTRATION

ET DE LA FONCTION PUBLIQUE

Conclusion

• Transition days, troubled days !

• And anticipation of next « roaring  tennies » for senior civil service…