École nationale d'administration
Encyclopedia
The École Nationale d'Administration (ÉNA; ekɔl nasjɔnal dadministʁasjɔ̃; National School of Administration), one of the most prestigious of French graduate schools (Grandes écoles
Grandes écoles
The grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...

), was created in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

 to democratise access to the senior civil service. It is now entrusted with the selection and initial training of senior French officials. The ENA is one of the symbols of the Republican meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...

, along with École Normale Supérieure and Ecole Polytechnique ("X"), offering its alumni access to high positions within the state. It has now been almost completely relocated in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 to emphasise its European character.

The ENA produces around 100 graduates every year, known as énarques (enaʁk). ENA is seen as the method of choice to reach the great administrative corps of the State.

The ENA is often compared to the College of Europe
College of Europe
The College of Europe is an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies with the main campus in Bruges, Belgium...

 in Belgium, with which it shares several traditions.

ENA and politics

The main reason for entering ENA is that it has a legal quasi-monopoly over access to some of the most prestigious positions in the French civil service (the École polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

 fulfills this role for other prestigious and technical positions, while some schools like the École Nationale des Impôts allow access to very specific positions). The school was created in a move to make the recruitment for various high administrative bodies more rational and democratic. By having a system solely based on academic proficiency and competitive examinations, the reasoning went, recruitment to top positions could be made more transparent, without suspicion of political or personal preference.

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 disponibilité. If they are not re-elected or reappointed, they may ask for their reintegration into their service (see Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...

 and Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010....

 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
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....

 entered politics as an appointed official, after serving as an aide to Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

, without ever having held an elected position.

The énarques were criticised as early as the 1960s for their technocratic and arrogant ways. Young énarque Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

 was, for instance, lampooned in an album of the Asterix
Asterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...

 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 criticise ENA, even when they themselves are alumni of the school.

John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...

 and Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...

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

However, only a small proportion of "enarques" (around 10%) actually get involved in politics. Most ENA alumni hold neutral, technical positions in the French civil service.

ENA also participates in international Technical Assistance programmes, funded by the EU or other donors.

Recruitment and exit procedures

Entrance to ENA is granted on a competitive exam at the beginning of September, which people generally take after completing studies at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

(more widely known as Sciences Po). The "concours externe" exam is in two parts :
The written part includes
- an essay on public law
- an essay on the economy
- an essay on "general knowledge" (culture générale, extremely common in French competitive exams),
- a note de synthèse (summarizing 40 to 70 pages of documents) in either (at the candidate's choice) European Law and Policies (Questions Européennes) or Social Law and Policies (Questions Sociales)
- a cinquième épreuve chosen by the candidate among many different subjects ranging from mathematics to "administrative sciences" or language.

The oral exam, taken only by those with the highest marks in the written exam, consists of
- An oral examination on Public Finances
- An oral examination on International Politics (Questions Internationales)
- An oral examination either on Questions Européennes or on Questions Sociales (whichever subject the candidate did not choose on the written test)
- An oral examination to test the skill of the candidate in a foreign language.
- A physical test
- the famous 45-minute long Grand Oral during which any question can be asked, from general knowledge to very personal questions.


Results of this exam process are published by the end of December.

Other exam processes govern admission for career civil servants (concours interne) and for all other people, already active in business, political or union activities (troisième concours).

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 top-ranked join prestigious corps such as the Inspection Générale des Finances, Conseil d'État or Cour des Comptes
Cour des Comptes
The Court of Audit is a quasi-judicial body of the French government charged with conducting financial and legislative audits of most public institutions and some private institutions, including the central Government, national public corporations, social security agencies , and public services...

, other will join e.g. the diplomatic service, ministries, and administrative justice or préfectures
Préfecture
A prefecture in France can refer to :*the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a department is located;*the Chef-lieu de région, the town in which the administration of a region is located;...

. Eventually, some enter national politics, while many end up in high-level administrative 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
French Civil Service
The French Civil Service is the set of civil servants working for the French government.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" with...

, and don't recognise themselves in the stereotyped images about our school.

Promotions

Academic years at ENA are known as promotions, and are named by the students after outstanding French (Vauban, Saint-Exupéry, Rousseau), Foreigners (Mandela), characters (Cyrano de Bergerac), battles (Valmy), concepts (Croix de Lorraine, Droits de l'homme) or values (liberté-égalité-fraternité).

ENA shares this tradition with the College of Europe
College of Europe
The College of Europe is an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies with the main campus in Bruges, Belgium...

 in Belgium.

Alumni

According to an international classification, the École nationale d'administration ranks ninth among higher education institutions in the world, with regard to the performance of their training programmes, based on the number of alumni among the Chief Executive Officers of the 500 leading worldwide companies.

Since its creation 60 years ago, the ENA has trained 5600 French senior officials and 2600 foreigners. Some famous alumni include:
  • Head of state
    Head of State
    A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

    : Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
    Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
    Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...

     (France), Jacques Chirac
    Jacques Chirac
    Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

     (France), Nicéphore Soglo
    Nicéphore Soglo
    Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo is a Beninois politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He has been the Mayor of Cotonou since 2003.-Biography:Soglo was born in Togo...

     (Benin
    Benin
    Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

    )
  • Head of government
    Head of government
    Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

    : Laurent Fabius
    Laurent Fabius
    Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...

     (France), Michel Rocard
    Michel Rocard
    Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...

     (France), Édouard Balladur
    Édouard Balladur
    Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...

     (France), Alain Juppé
    Alain Juppé
    Alain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...

     (France), Lionel Jospin
    Lionel Jospin
    Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...

     (France), Dominique de Villepin
    Dominique de Villepin
    Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....

     (France), Edem Kodjo
    Edem Kodjo
    Édouard Kodjovi Kodjo, better known as Edem Kodjo , is a Togolese politician and diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity from 1978 to 1983; later, in Togo, he was a prominent opposition leader after the introduction of multiparty politics. He served as Prime...

     (Togo
    Togo
    Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...

    ), Alfred Sant
    Alfred Sant
    Alfred Sant is a Maltese politician. He led the Labour Party from 1992 to 2008 and served as Prime Minister of Malta between 1996 and 1998 and as Leader of the Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2008....

     (Malta
    Malta
    Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

    ), André Milongo
    André Milongo
    André Ntsatouabantou Milongo was a Congolese politician who served as Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo from June 1991 to August 1992. He was chosen by the 1991 National Conference to lead the country during its transition to multiparty elections, which were held in 1992...

     (Republic of the Congo
    Republic of the Congo
    The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

    ), Patrick Leclercq
    Patrick Leclercq
    Patrick Leclercq was the Minister of State of Monaco. He was appointed on 5 January 2000, replacing Michel Lévêque. He had previously served as France's consul / ambassador to Spain, Egypt , Montreal , as well as in the Foreign Ministry.Patrick André Leclercq was born in Lille, attended the...

     (Monaco
    Monaco
    Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

    ), Jean-Paul Proust
    Jean-Paul Proust
    Jean-Paul Proust was the Minister of State of Monaco. He held that position from 1 June 2005 until 29 March 2010, having been appointed three months earlier by the prince and the French government...

     (Monaco), Brigi Rafini
    Brigi Rafini
    Brigi Rafini is a Nigerien politician who has been Prime Minister of Niger since 2011. A native of Iférouane in Agadez Region and an ethnic Tuareg, Rafini was Minister of Agriculture in the late 1980s and Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger from 2004 to 2009...

     (Niger).
  • Current French ministers: Laurent Wauquiez
    Laurent Wauquiez
    Laurent Wauquiez is a French politician and the current Secretary of State for European Affairs under the Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Alain Juppé....

    , Martin Hirsch
    Martin Hirsch
    Martin Hirsch is the former head of Emmaüs France, the former High Commissioner for Active Solidarity against Poverty, and the High Commissioner for Youth in the government of François Fillon...

    , Jean-Pierre Jouyet
    Jean-Pierre Jouyet
    -Biography:Jean-Pierre Jouyet, was born on 13 February 1954 at Montreuil-sous-Bois in the suburbs of Paris, and is a top civil servant who has also held political positions....

    , Valérie Pécresse
    Valérie Pécresse
    Valérie Pécresse is a French politician. She has been deputy of the Yvelines since May 16, 2002, Minister for Higher Education and Research from May 18, 2007 to June 2011 and is currently in charge of the budget as the Minister of the Budget since then...

     and Anne-Marie Idrac
    Anne-Marie Idrac
    Anne-Marie Idrac is a French politician, member of the Nouveau Centre political party, was French Minister of State for foreign trade.- Biography :...

     (typically one-third of every French cabinet since the 1960s and one-half of the Cabinet for recent administrations until Sarkozy's are ENA's alumni)
  • Other political leaders: Ségolène Royal
    Ségolène Royal
    Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...

     and François Hollande
    François Hollande
    François Gérard Georges Hollande is a French politician. From 1997 to 2008, he was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. He has also served as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France, representing the first constituency of Corrèze, since 1997. He previously represented that seat...

    , who met at ENA
  • Industry leaders: Michel Bon
    Michel Bon
    Michel Bon is a French businessman and politician born in 1943. He is a graduate of the ESSEC, of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, of the École nationale d'administration and of Stanford Business School....

     (former CEO of Carrefour
    Carrefour
    Carrefour S.A. is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world...

     and France Telecom
    France Télécom
    France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...

    ), Jean-Marie Messier
    Jean-Marie Messier
    Jean-Marie Messier is a French businessman who was Chairman and Chief Executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi SA until 2002...

    , Ernest-Antoine Seillière
    Ernest-Antoine Seillière
    Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is an entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire ....

    , Louis Schweitzer
    Louis Schweitzer (CEO)
    Louis Schweitzer was the previous Chairman of Renault, first taking that post on 27 May 1992 in succession to Raymond Lévy, and he was also CEO from 1992 to 2005. He is in addition Chairman of AstraZeneca where he was appointed as a Director 11 March 2004...

    , Gérard Mestrallet
    Gérard Mestrallet
    Gérard Mestrallet is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of GDF Suez.-Biography:Gérard Mestrallet was born on 1 April 1949. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration....

    , Louis Gallois
    Louis Gallois
    Louis René Fernand Gallois is a French businessman and currently the CEO of EADS.-Education:...

    , Henri de Castries
    Henri de Castries
    Henri de La Croix de Castries, 5th Comte de Castries is a French businessman. he is Chairman and CEO of AXA since May 2000. His father is probably Christian de Castries, the commander of the doomed French garrison at Dien Bien Phu...

    , Baudouin Prot
    Baudouin Prot
    Baudouin Prot is CEO of BNP Paribas, the world's biggest banking group.-Biography:Prot was born 24 May 1951. He graduated from HEC Paris and from the École nationale d'administration...

    , Frederic Oudéa
    Frederic Oudéa
    Frederic Oudéa is Chief Executive Officer to Société Générale.-Career:After his education at École nationale d'administration and Ecole Polytechnique in France, Oudea worked in the economic sector of the French civil service from 1987 until 1995...

    , Bruno Lafont, Frédéric Lemoine
    Frédéric Lemoine
    Frédéric Lemoine is a French businessman, Chairman of Wendel’s Executive Board since April 2009, after being Member of the Supervisory Board of Wendel from June 2008 to April 2009...

    , Pierre-André de Chalendar
    Pierre-André de Chalendar
    Pierre-André de Chalendar born April 2, 1958 in Vichy , is a French entrepreneur.He is Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain Group since June 3, 2010 and CEO since June 2007.- Formation :* Graduated from ESSEC business school in 1979...

     (CEO of Saint-Gobain
    Saint-Gobain
    Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...

    ), etc.
  • International organisations presidents: Pascal Lamy
    Pascal Lamy
    Pascal Lamy is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, a French political advisor, a businessman, and a former European Commissioner for Trade...

     (World Trade Organisation), Jean-Claude Trichet
    Jean-Claude Trichet
    Jean-Claude Trichet is a French civil servant who was the president of the European Central Bank, a position he held from 2003 to 2011. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements...

     (European Central Bank
    European Central Bank
    The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...

    ), Michel Camdessus
    Michel Camdessus
    Michel Camdessus is a French applied economist and administrator who was Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 16 January 1987 to 14 February 2000. To date, he is the longest serving Managing Director of the IMF....

    , Jacques de Larosière
    Jacques de Larosière
    Jacques de Larosière de Champfeu is a French civil servant. He is the Chairman of the Strategic Committee of the French Treasury and Advisor to BNP Paribas, became President of the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in September 1993 in the wake of the scandals that led...

  • Intellectuals: Jacques Attali
    Jacques Attali
    Jacques Attali is a French economist, writer and senior civil servant.Former adviser to President François Mitterrand and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he founded the non-profit organization PlaNet Finance and was nominated President of the Commission for...

    , Frank Attar, Françoise Chandernagor
    Françoise Chandernagor
    Françoise Chandernagor is a French writer, born June 15, 1945. She is the daughter of André Chandernagor. She is a former student of the National School of Administration - École nationale d'administration, and she became a member of the Council of State in 1969.-Biography:In 1991, Françoise...

    , Jean-François Deniau
    Jean-François Deniau
    Jean-François Deniau was a French statesman, diplomat, essayist and novelist. He was until 1998 a member of the UDF .-Minister and diplomat:...

    , Gabriel de Broglie
    Gabriel de Broglie
    Gabriel-Marie-Joseph-Anselme de Broglie-Revel is a French historian and statesman.He was elected to the Académie française in 2001, replacing Alain Peyrefitte. He is a Knight Commander of the Légion d'honneur...

     etc.

See also

Alumni of the École Nationale d'Administration
  • Sciences Po
  • École Polytechnique
    École Polytechnique
    The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

  • École Normale Supérieure
    École Normale Supérieure
    The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...

  • HEC Paris
  • École nationale d'administration publique
    École nationale d'administration publique
    The École nationale d'administration publique , located in Quebec City, Quebec, was established in 1969 by the Quebec government, as a way of obtaining a professional public administration during a period when a number of social and structural changes were taking place within the province...

     in Quebec
    Quebec
    Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

  • European Institutions in Strasbourg
    European Institutions in Strasbourg
    There are a range of European Institutions in Strasbourg , the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city...

  • Oxbridge
    Oxbridge
    Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...

  • Ivy League
    Ivy League
    The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...


External links

Official website Official website
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK