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TheFrench civil service (French:Fonction publique française) is the set ofcivil servants (fonctionnaires) working theGovernment of France.
Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; however, the media often incorrectly equate "government employee" or "employee of a public corporation" withfonctionnaire. For instance, most employees of theRATP andSNCF (metropolitan and national rail transport authorities) are not civil servants. The Civil Service is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as theadministration, but, properly speaking, theadministration is the compound of public administrations and public administrative establishments, not their employees.
Most employment positions in the French civil service are open to citizens of theEuropean Union. Others, especially inpolice and justice, are specifically reserved for nationals, while a minority are open regardless of citizenship. About half of the civil servants are employed in theFrench public education system.
The Civil Service is divided into:
Technically,fonction publique may also refer tofonction publique militaire, the personnel ofmilitary status. They are generally counted apart. There also existouvriers d'État - that is, State Workers - for industrial functions.
Civil servants of the State are divided intocorps ("professions"). Corps are grouped in 3 categories[1] (formerly 4): category A for management, design, and general studies professions (e.g. judges, engineers, professors...); category B for applications-related professions (e.g. librarians, superior technicians...); and category C for executions-related professions (e.g. technicians, administrative assistants...). Each corps has a set of possible job or task descriptions and may have its own particular statutes. The categories A, B and C are hierarchical classifications based on the level of responsibility, education and remuneration of civil servants. Category A (minimum college level) concerns design and management functions; category B (university entrance qualificationl) applies to application and drafting functions, and category C (high school level) applies to implementation functions. Other French Civil Services have different organisations; for instance the Territorial Civil Service (Fonction Publique Territoriale) is not divided between rigid "corps" but between "cadre d'emplois" (lit.employment framework). In theFrench Armed Forces,commissioned officers belong to category A,non-commissioned officers to category B, and troops to category C.[2]
These corps may themselves be divided intoranks (grades, calledclasses in certain corps). For instance, the corps of university professors is a category A corps divided into 3 classes: second class (equivalent to an American associate professor), first class (full professor), exceptional class (leading full professor in their area). Generally, to avoid rank inflation, the number of civil servants in the higher ranks (especially "exceptional class") is constrained by a maximal percentage of the total number of civil servants of the corps.
Certain corps enjoying particular prestige are called the "grands corps de l'État" (lit.major state bodies)[4]
High-level administrative positions are typically paid much less than the equivalent positions in private industries. However, members of grand Corps often practicepantouflage — that is, they take temporarily (and sometimes permanent) leave from government work and go work in industry. Occasionally, people from a ministry supervising some industry would later go to work in that same industry; this practice was later prohibited.Pantouflage however still exists, and the coziness between some industrial, political and administrative circles is regularly denounced.
Members of the great administrative corps are well represented inpolitics. This is facilitated by civil servants (of any level) being able to exercise elected office on a temporary leave (détachement) from government.
Civil servants have duties; failure to carry them out may result in disciplinary action, up to discharge. The main duties are:
A civil servant should devote their full professional activity to their appointed task. By exception, a civil servant may in addition to their regular activities write books; they may also accomplish certain tasks (teaching...) with the permission of their hierarchical supervisor.
One cannot be a civil servant if one has been convicted of a crime incompatible with one's functions.
In certain exceptional cases, certain aspects of the private life of a civil servant may be termed incompatible with their functions. For instance, it is inappropriate for a member of thepolice or thejudiciary to live with adelinquent partner or aprostitute. Appreciation of what is appropriate or not is largely a matter ofcase law.
A civil servant should not, by their actions and especially by their declarations, cause harm to institutions.
Generally speaking, a civil servant should always refrain from enunciating personal opinions in a manner that can be construed as expressing the official opinion of the French government or a public institution. Obviously, this is more of a matter for the highermanagerial positions. Agents operating abroad should be especially prudent. For instance, anambassador should refrain from making any private comment on international issues.
Theacademic freedom of universityprofessors is a principle recognized (in theory) by the laws of the Republic, as defined by theConstitutional Council; furthermore, statute law declares abouthigher education that"teachers-researchers [university professors and lecturers], researchers and teachers are fully independent and enjoy fullfreedom of speech in the course of theirresearch andteaching activities, provided they respect, following university traditions and the dispositions of this code, principles of tolerance and objectivity".[5]
A civil servant must accomplish the orders given by their hierarchical supervisor, unless those orders are evidently illegal and contrary to public interest.[6]
While the hierarchical authority is normally responsible for assigning civil servants to positions and evaluating their work, certain corps of civil servants follow specific rules regarding the management, evaluation and discipline of their members. For instance,professors andresearchers are evaluated by elected committees of theirpeers. Furthermore, judges of the judiciary (magistrats du siège) as well as administrative magistrates cannot be removed from their position, even for a promotion, without their agreement.
Civil servants must not reveal private or secret information that they have gained in the course of their duties. Depending on a civil servant's corps, this obligation may be of varying intensity : while administrative magistrates are formally discouraged from making their profession in non-professional works and opinions, members of the military are expected to maintain a very high standard of discretion.[7] This restraint on the side of the military has even led it to being nicknamed "the great mute" ("la grande muette").
Civil servants must not use the means at their professional disposal for private gain.
Civil servant must be neutral with respect to the religious or political opinions, origin, or sex, and should refrain from expressing their own opinions.
Most positions are open to citizens of theEuropean Union. Certain positions involving the main powers of the state (e.g.Police) are open only to French nationals. Some rare positions, e.g. university professors and researchers, are open regardless of citizenship.
As an exception to the general rules concerning workers, civil servants do not sign contracts; their situation is defined bystatutory andregulatory dispositions, most notably theGeneral Statute of the Civil Servants (Statut Général des Fonctionnaires).
The general rule is that civil servants are recruited throughcompetitive exams, either:
The most common method is to organize written and/or oral exams in subjects pertaining to the tasks to be accomplished. For certain positions, such asprofessorships in universities, the exam, organized locally for each position or each set of similar positions, consists in the submission of a file listing the professional qualifications and experience of the candidate, followed by an interview.In all cases, a committee ranks candidates by order of preference; the positions are filled by the candidates accepting them called in that order of preference.For some top managerial positions, nominations are at the discretion of theexecutive.
High level nominations are made by thePresident of the Republic in the council of ministers. The rest are by the head of the agency they belong to, or by a minister; in fact, they are in general appointed by some person who has received from the head of agency or minister the authority to do so.
The pay of a civil servant is composed of:
Thetraitement is for most civil servants fixed by multiplying an index by the value of the index point inEuros. The value of the index point is set by the executive and is raised regularly to compensate forinflation. The index depends on the corps, rank and seniority in rank (échelon).
In the case of high-level civil servants known ashors échelle, the corps, rank and seniority correspond to a letter code (e.g. A1, E2, G); the corresponding yearly pay can then be looked up in tables set by the executive. For instance, the topmosttraitement, corresponding to pay grade G, is €82737.67 per year, starting 1 July 2009.[8]
There are special rules for the pays of elected officials and government ministers.
On 31 December 1999,official statistics give for the state civil service:
| Ministries | Civil servants | Ouvriers EVY | Other civilian employees | Military personnel | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign affairs | 7,159 | 150 | 6,767 | 974 | 15,050 |
| Agriculture | 29,724 | 34 | 8,316 | 23 | 38,097 |
| Veteran affairs | 1,934 | 76 | 337 | 20 | 2,367 |
| Cooperation with foreign countries | 1,851 | 1,660 | 585 | 4,096 | |
| Culture | 12,212 | 2,532 | 14,744 | ||
| Defense | 33,324 | 49,763 | 7,979 | 318,057 | 409,123 |
| Economy, finances and industry | 187,728 | 739 | 16,005 | 348 | 204,820 |
| National education | 942,651 | 96,487 | 4 | 1,039,142 | |
| Employment and solidarity | 22,928 | 7,158 | 22 | 30,108 | |
| Higher education | 117,411 | 8 | 17,088 | 134,507 | |
| Equipment, housing, transportation | 95,797 | 9,508 | 11,359 | 547 | 117,211 |
| Interior (includingpolice) | 161,978 | 1,593 | 20,410 (1) | 34 | 184,015 |
| Youth and sports | 6,411 | 4,093 | 10,504 | ||
| Justice | 61,232 | 4,764 | 2 | 65,998 | |
| Overseas affairs | 2,171 | 468 | 865 | 3,504 | |
| Research | 20 | 9,041 | 9,061 | ||
| Services of theprime minister | 1,367 | 666 | 1,127 | 3,160 | |
| Total | 1,685,898 | 62,537 | 215,591 | 321,481 | 2,285,507 |
(1) Including 12,000 young employees on limited time contracts.