École nationale d'administration

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The École nationale d'administration (generally known as ENA) is the school where many of France senior officials are instructed. It is the way of choice to reach the great administrative corps of the State. The graduates of ENA are known as énarques.

It was created in 1945 in Paris by Charles de Gaulle and has now been almost completely decentralised to Strasbourg to emphasize its European character.

1 Recruitment and exit procedures
2 ENA and politics
3 Alumni
4 See also
5 External links

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Recruitment and exit procedures

Entrance to ENA is granted on a competitive exam, which people generally take after completing studies at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (more widely known as Sciences Po). Other competitive exams are open for career civil servants who want to seek higher positions.

ENA ranks students according to their academic merit; students are then asked, in order of decreasing merit, the service that they want to join. While the first ranked join the prestigious corps like the Inspection of Finances, Conseil d'État or Court of Auditors, and some enter national politics, many end up in middle-level administration positions. To quote ENA's site:

In fact, although these famous alumni are the most visible, the majority are largely unknown, lead quiet and useful careers in our civil service, and don't recognise themselves in the stereotyped images about our school.

In addition, ENA offers courses for foreign students. So far, 1800 young public servants from all parts of the world have taken part in the "cycle long", which lasts 18 months. They spend part of the time studying alongside their French counterparts, and part working in a Préfecture.

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ENA and politics

The main reason for entering ENA is that it has a legal quasi-monopoly on the access to some of the most prestigious positions ("Catégorie A") in the French state civil service (the École polytechnique fulfils this role for other prestigious and technical positions, while some schools like the École Nationale des Impôts allow access to very specific "Catégorie A" positions). The school was created in a move to make more rational and democratic the recruitment of personnel for various bodies of high administration. By having a system solely based on academic proficiency and competitive examinations, the reasoning went, recruitment for top positions could be made more transparent, without suspicion of political or personal preferences.

French law makes it relatively easy for civil servants to enter politics: civil servants who are elected or appointed to a political position do not have to resign their position in the civil service; instead, they are put in a situation of "temporary leave" known as détachement. If they are not re-elected or reappointed, they may ask for their reintegration into their service (see Lionel Jospin, Bruno Mégret and Philippe Séguin for examples). In addition, ENA graduates are often recruited as aides by government ministers and other politicians; this makes it easier for some of them to enter a political career. As an example, Dominique de Villepin entered politics as an appointed official, after serving as an aide to Jacques Chirac, without ever having held an elected position.

The énarques were criticized as early as the 1960s for their technocratic and arrogant ways. Young énarque Jacques Chirac was, for instance, lampooned in an album of the Asterix series. Such criticism has continued up to present times, with the énarques being accused of monopolizing positions in higher administration and politics, without having to show real efficiency. It has become a recurrent theme for many French politicians to criticize ENA, even when they are former graduate themselves.

The way this school shapes French industry and politics has been studied by John Kenneth Galbraith and Pierre Bourdieu. The key point is that these "enarques" profit from two main privileges: not only do they have a monopoly of the top administrative positions within the civil service, but they can go into politics and industry without risk.

ENA also participates in international Technical Assistance programs, funded by the EU or other donors. It has gained itself a reputation of arrogance, by transmitting its own model, without searching to adapt it to local necessities.

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