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French diplomats staged a one-day strike Thursday to protest a plan by President Emmanuel Macron to strip foreign envoys of their distinct status, a move they say will weaken Paris's influence abroad.
France has the third-biggest foreign service in the world after China and the United States.
And it is only the second time in the foreign ministry's history that the institution, which prizes discretion and compromise, has staged an open revolt over a government project.
The decree calling for the diplomatic corps' "extinction" was unveiled in April by Macron, who wants to create a single pool of elite "state administrators" capable of transferring smoothly throughout the public sector.
Diplomats say removing their special status fails to acknowledge their experience and expertise in defending French interests, by making posts available to all senior civil servants and not just those specifically trained for the foreign service.
"The reform says that agents are, in a way, interchangeable," Olivier Da Silva, a diplomat and union chief, told AFP.
"And that basically, if you meet a few conditions, you could go from a position at the agriculture, education or interior ministry to a position at the foreign ministry."
Several dozen protesters gathered outside the ornate Quai d'Orsay headquarters of the foreign ministry on the bank of the Seine river, one with a sign in English reading: "There can be no long-term diplomacy with short-term diplomats."
"You don't become a diplomat overnight," said Marcel Escure, a 35-year veteran of the service and one of the few to give his name at the protest.
Political interference?
The reform means that France's roughly 700 most senior diplomats could be asked to join other ministries, and face competition from non-diplomats for key postings.
But critics say Macron has an ulterior motive -- a freer rein to name ambassadors after his unsuccessful attempt to install a friend, the writer Philippe Besson, in a prime post as consul general in Los Angeles.
That attempt sparked an outcry in the corps before being nullified in 2019 by the State Council, France's top administrative law court.
The government says the reform will attract more diverse candidates to the diplomatic service by opening new routes to the foreign ministry, but opponents see a danger of political interference.
"The door is now open to American-style nominations," a former ambassador to Washington, Gerard Araud, tweeted last month.
American ambassadors are named by the president, who often uses the power to reward political allies and donors with plum foreign postings.
"Without a diplomatic corps, it will be much easier for the government to appoint friends at all levels of diplomatic jobs," Aurelie Bonal, France's deputy ambassador to Washington, said on Twitter.
"After World War II, the administration was rebuilt precisely to avoid that. Our diplomacy needs competence, continuity & expertise, not cronyism," she wrote.
'Worries are real'
France's foreign ministry employs about 14,000 employees in total -- though most are non-diplomats or people on local contracts abroad.
But the corps also complains of years of budget and staff cuts even as its workload has soared with the Covid-19 pandemic and growing geopolitical tensions, not least between the West and China and Russia.
"We say that one is not born a diplomat, that one is not born a consular official, but that it takes experience, as it does for other professions," Da Silva said.
"This reform, by denying this distinction, risks weakening the French diplomatic tool."
The strike will be a challenge for Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, a career diplomat appointed by Macron in a cabinet shake-up just two weeks ago.
Her arrival was interpreted by many as a signal of Macron's willingness to engage with the corps, but she has not commented publicly on the strike so far.
"The worries are genuine, and the staff are exhausted" and currently under intense pressure, a source close to the matter said, asking to remain anonymous.
