Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; however, the media often incorrectly equates "government employee" or "employee of a public corporation" with fonctionnaire. For instance, most employees of RATP and SNCF are not civil servants. The Civil Service is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as the administration, but, properly said, the administration is the compound of public administrations and public administrative establishments, not their employees.
About half of the civil servants are employed in the public education system.
Divisions
The Civil Service is divided into:
Technically, fonction publique may also refer to fonction publique militaire, the personnel of military status. They are generally counted apart. There also exist ouvriers d'État - that is, State Workers - for industrial functions.
Civil servants are divided into corps, which may themselves be divided into ranks (grades) (called classes in certain corps). Corps are grouped in 4 categories named A to D, in decreasing order of educational knowledge theoretically required, A meaning "college graduate". For instance, the corps of professors of the universities is divided into 3 classes, in increasing order of seniority: second class (equivalent to an American associate professor), first class (full professor), exceptional class (leading full professor in his area). Generally, to avoid rank inflation, the number of civil servants in the higher ranks (especially "exceptional class") is contrained by a maximal percentage of the total number of civil servants of the corps. Each corps has a set of possible job or task descriptions and may have its own particular statutes.
Civil servants have duties; failure to carry them out may result in disciplinary action, up to discharge. The main duties are:
In certain exceptional cases, certain aspects of the private life of a civil servant may be termed incompatible with his functions. For instance, a member of the police or the judiciary living with a delinquent partner or a prostitute. Appreciation of what is appropriate or not is largely a matter of case law.
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 higher managerial positions. Agents operating abroad should be especially prudent. For instance, an ambassador should refrain from making any private comment on international issues.
The academic freedom of university professors is a fundamental principle recognized by the laws of the Republic, as defined by the Constitutional Council; furthermore, statute law declares about higher education that teachers-researchers [university professors and assistant professors], researchers and teachers are fully independent and enjoy full freedom of speech in the course of their research and teaching activities, provided they respect, following university traditions and the dispositions of this code, principles of tolerance and objectivity (Education Code, L952-2).
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 and researchers are evaluated by elected committees of their peers.
The general rule is that civil servants are recruited through competitive exams, either:
High lever nominations are made by the President of the Republic in the council of ministers. The vast majority of civil servants are nominated far more informally.
Duties
Full commitment to professional activity
A civil servant should devote his full professional activity to his appointed task. By exception, a civil servant may in addition to his regular activities write books; he may also accomplish certain tasks (teaching...) with the permission of his hierarchical supervisor.Morality
One cannot be a civil servant if one has been convicted of a crime incompatible with one's functions.Reserve
A civil servant should not, by his actions and especially by his declarations, cause harm to institutions. Appreciation of what is appropriate or not is largely a matter of case law.Hierarchical obedience
A civil servant must accomplish the orders given by his hierarchical supervisor, unless those orders are evidently illegal and contrary to public interest.Professional discretion
Civil servants must not reveal private or secret information that they have gained in the course of their duties.Honesty
Civil servants must not use the means at his professional disposal for private gain.Neutrality
Civil servant must be neutral with respect to the religious or political opinions, origin, or sex, and should refrain from expressing their own opinions.Recruitment and career
As an exception to the general rules concerning workers, civil servants do not sign contracts; their situation is defined by statutory and regulatory dispositions, most notably the General Statute of the Civil Servants (Statut Général des Fonctionnaires).
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 as professorships 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 the executive.Statistics
On December 31, 1999, official statistics give for the state civil service:
|
Ministries |
Civil servants |
Ouvriers d'État |
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 (including police) |
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 the prime 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.