The ''grands corps de l'État'' (English: Grand Corps of the French State) are a feature of the French state as envisaged in the reforms of

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the country ...

. Some of these ''grands corps'' date back to the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

, in the 18th century, but most originated or were given their modern form during the reign of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. The exact list of ''grands corps de l'État'' is debatable, mainly because there is disagreement about whether a particular ''corps'' is ''grand'' enough to be counted. However, ''

Who's Who in France ''Who's Who in France'' is a biographical dictionary published in France and written in French. In France it is simply "le ''Who's Who''". History The first edition of ''Who's Who in France'' was published in 1953 by Jacques Lafitte. In 197 ...

'' gives the following list: the ingénieurs des mines, the ingénieurs des ponts, the administrateurs de l'INSEE, the ingénieurs de l'armement, the conseillers d'État, the

Cour des comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 an ...

and the inspecteurs des finances. In France, the members of these grand corps have great importance in the government administration, since many executive positions are held by them. Also many CEOs of French companies come straight out of these Grand Corps.

Administrative ''grands corps''

The administrative ''grands corps'' mainly recruit graduates of the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

(ENA). They are more closely connected with politics than the technical ''grands corps'' are.

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

was member of the Conseil d'État,

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...

and

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...

were both members of the

, and

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

and Michel Rocard were members of the Inspection des finances. * Conseil d'État * Inspection des finances *

Technical ''grands corps''

The technical ''grands corps'' mainly recruit from graduates of the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, Écoles normales supérieures or other schools such as École des Ponts and

École des Mines École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

. *

Corps des mines The ''Corps des mines'' is the foremost technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is composed of the state industrial engineers. The Corps is attached to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Its purpose is to e ...

Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests The ''Corps des ponts, des eaux et des forêts'' (in English "Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests") is a technical Grand Corps of the French State ( grand corps de l'Etat). Its members are senior officials, mainly employed by the French Ministry ...

Corps de l'armement The Corps de l'armement, or ''corps des ingénieurs de l'armement'' is a Technical Grand Corps of the French State (''grand corps de l'Etat''), aimed at providing the French Armed Forces with all appropriate equipment and at supervising the French ...

Corps de l'INSEE The Corps of INSEE (''Corps de l'INSEE'') is a technical Grand corps de l'Etat with the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). Service Its members are public servants known as Administrateurs de l'INSEE. Most of them work ...

Three other technical ''grands corps'' no longer function: * The Corps des télécommunications was merged in 2009 into the

. * The Corps du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts was merged in 2009 into the

. * The Corps des poids et mesures was merged into the

in 2007.

Criticism of ''grands corps''

The system of ''grands corps'' has been criticised from within its own ranks as well as from outside. In January 2009, a report on the future of the technical ''grands corps'' was sent to the Prime Minister.Rapport Canepa–Folz au Premier Ministre sur l’avenir des corps d’ingénieurs de l’État, janvier 2009
/ref>

References

External links (English)

New York Times, 15/12/2010, Patrick Mehr (X-Mines), France's Golden Handcuffs, The reason for pessimism about France’s future is its stifling and antiquated governmental control of every aspect of entrepreneurial life

Virginia Tech Center

United Nations, April 2006, France Public Administration Profile

Council of European studies, March 2006, Inside the Autonomous State Elites, Ideas, and Power in The Reform of French Health Policy

2010, William Genieys, The New Custodians of the State: Programmatic Elites in French Society

External links (French)

* ttp://www.hautefonctionpublique.org/fgcte/ Fédération des Grands Corps Techniques de l'État (FGCTE)* ttp://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/getpart.php?id=lyon2.2007.gervais_j&part=135536#Noteftn548 … par des corps scolairement dominés…* [http://www.archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr/action-culturelle/celebrations-nationales/recueil-2004/1804-l-empire/napoleon-et-la-construction-des-grands-corps-de-l-etat Archives de France, 2004, Napoléon et la construction des grands corps de l'État, Napoléon Bonaparte est bien à l’origine du Conseil d’État, de la Cour de cassation et de la Cour des comptes, mais il est aussi, si l’on entend donner une acception large à ce terme, le père du corps préfectoral, de l’inspection des finances, de même qu’il réorganise les corps des mines et des ponts et chaussées]
revue administrative, mai 1986, MC Kessler, Les grands corps

Conseil d'État, 2003, perspectives pour la fonction publique

Cour des Comptes, avril 2001, La Fonction Publique de l'État

Documentation française, avril 2003, Moderniser l'État : le cas de l'ENA

La jaune et la rouge, Abolir les grands corps de l'État, X-Mines vivant au Massachusetts, Patrick Mehr compare la sélection des élites dans les deux pays. Selon lui, la meilleure manière d'encourager l'esprit d'initiative des jeunes Français les plus talentueux est de supprimer les grands corps de l'État
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grands corps de l'Etat Government of France Government agencies of France