{"id":336,"date":"2010-04-14T20:53:36","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T20:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=336"},"modified":"2010-04-14T20:53:36","modified_gmt":"2010-04-14T20:53:36","slug":"what-is-an-%e2%80%9cenarque%e2%80%9d-2eme-partie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/what-is-an-%e2%80%9cenarque%e2%80%9d-2eme-partie\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an \u201c\u00c9narque\u201d ? (2\u00e8me partie)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have seen,\u00a0il y a deux jours\u00a0<\/em>(two days ago), a “special\u00a0species” of people in France\u00a0called “les \u00e9narques<\/em>.” We found out that they in fact\u00a0represent the French \u00e9lite<\/em>, the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me<\/em> of the civil\u00a0servants,\u00a0a position in la\u00a0soci\u00e9t\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise <\/em>(the French society) which naturally earns them both admiration and outrage.<\/p>\n

At the beginning, the \u00c9.N.A., standing for L’\u00c9cole Nationale d’Administration<\/em><\/strong>, where the \u00e9narques <\/em>graduate from,\u00a0was created by Le Pr\u00e9sident <\/em>Charles de Gaulle (note that the “s” in Charles<\/span><\/em> is silent in French!),\u00a0with the explicit purpose\u00a0of making the high administrative jobs more accessible\u00a0to\u00a0le menu peuple<\/em>\u00a0(the common folks.)<\/p>\n

We have seen\u00a0what a\u00a0t\u00e2che dantesque\u00a0<\/em>(daunting task) it is\u00a0to get into\u00a0the \u00c9NA, <\/em>with the cornucopia of obstacles\u00a0varying from\u00a0l’examen externe<\/em> to\u00a0l’examen oral<\/em>, and the 45 minutes of le\u00a0Grand O !<\/p>\n

<\/em>Once you have made it in,\u00a0<\/em>you start your \u00c9NA <\/em>journey as a\u00a0stagiaire <\/em>(trainee or intern)\u00a0with a\u00a0stage professionnel\u00a0<\/em>(internship) in some Ambassade de France <\/em>(French embassy) for example. If you like to travel, then\u00a0the\u00a0embassy choice\u00a0would definitely be a great experience, opening many\u00a0possibilities for a future diplomatic work. Or, more typically,\u00a0you can perform your stage<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0a big entreprise <\/em>such as Total or\u00a0BNP Paribas, where les\u00a0chefs d’entreprises <\/em>(the company officers) will petit\u00a0\u00e0 petit<\/em> (little-by-little) train you in les ficelles du m\u00e9<\/em>tiers\u00a0<\/em>(the tricks of the trade.)\u00a0 In any case, you also have to do\u00a0work\u00a0and gain experience in l’administration centrale<\/em>, such as in a Pr\u00e9fecture<\/em>.\u00a0All in all, the stage professionnel <\/em>lasts about\u00a0one year.<\/p>\n

For les d\u00e9bouch\u00e9s<\/em>,\u00a0the graduates, or the \u00e9narques <\/em>if you prefer, they\u00a0get to pick their jobs in the most peculiar way… at least to the rest of the world!
\nThe method of recruitment is completely\u00a0unseen in the\u00a0United States, except maybe at the Naval Academy or a Federal Service Academy.\u00a0 And comment \u00e7a marche ? <\/em>(how does it work?) From\u00a0all the prestigious jobs in the different levels of the French administration\u00a0that we have mentioned on Monday,\u00a0namely the Conseil d’\u00c9tat <\/em>(Council of State), <\/em>the Cour des Comptes<\/em> (The Court of Audit), and the IGF<\/em>, the major de promotion <\/em>(the valedictorian)\u00a0gets “first dibs”, choosing whatever position he or she pleases,\u00a0then the\u00a0second selects the second best job, et ainsi de suite <\/em>(and so on.) This ranking formula is supposed to guarantee, at least in theory of course, that France would be\u00a0une m\u00e9ritocratie <\/em>(a meritocracy), eliminating the risks of cronyism and nepotism in the French administration.<\/p>\n

You probably have seen many \u00e9narques <\/em>before without even knowing it: Former president Jacques Chirac is an \u00e9narque<\/em>, and so is Val\u00e9ry Giscard d’Estaing, also a former French president. Dominique de Villepin, the former Prime Minister of France that we mentioned last time about his discours <\/em>at the UN is also a pure product of the \u00c9NA.\u00a0<\/em>Many of the\u00a0CEOs and captains of the French industry\u00a0like France T\u00e9l\u00e9come, AXA,\u00a0Lafarge, and Cr\u00e9dit Agricole are des \u00e9narques.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) is an \u00e9narque<\/em>, and so is the director of the Organisation Mondiale du Commerce <\/em>or OMC\u00a0<\/em>(the WTO, or the World Trade Organization.)<\/p>\n

The \u00e9narques<\/em> usually are not so much into being exposed\u00a0in the spotlight, and many of them do not necessarily go into politics.\u00a0That’s probably why most of the French people know them but\u00a0very little about<\/em> them. Hopefully these articles have helped you discover a little bit\u00a0who they are,\u00a0so that you can finally\u00a0answer the question:\u00a0What is\u00a0an “\u00e9narque”?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have seen,\u00a0il y a deux jours\u00a0(two days ago), a “special\u00a0species” of people in France\u00a0called “les \u00e9narques.” We found out that they in fact\u00a0represent the French \u00e9lite, the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of the civil\u00a0servants,\u00a0a position in la\u00a0soci\u00e9t\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise (the French society) which naturally earns them both admiration and outrage. At the beginning, the \u00c9.N.A…<\/p>\n

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