Dossier - April 2017

“Foreign policy doesn’t count in a French presidential election.” How often have we heard this statement, however completely false? It is false, first, for institutional reasons. The fifth Republic Constitution, and even more so the constitutional practice, gives the President responsibility for the major decisions and choices in terms of foreign policy and defense policy. No other public policy is so closely monitored by the Elysée, sometimes limiting the Quai d’Orsay and ministry of Defense to mere auxiliaries. The development of high rank diplomacy for the last thirty years (that Bertrand Badies calls, “club diplomacy”) has reinforced French idiosyncrasy. Except for periods of cohabitation, during which the task is shared with the Prime minister, representation of the position of France at the G20 and G8 are the President’s and his « sherpa’s » responsibility. The President is also in charge of the negotiations for the most delicate issues at the European Council with the 28 (and tomorrow 27) heads of state and government in the European Union…