In a few days now, Frédéric Thiriez must submit to the French Prime Minister his report on the reform of the senior civil service education. In addition to the recast of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), which the President of the Republic wanted to abolish last April, he will “submit to the government very clear proposals to refocus the recruitment of our senior officials (…), training methods and management careers “.
I did not tried to pass the ENA at the end of Sciences Po : at the time, the prospect of a National Service experience at Alstom, in South Korea, had seemed to me a lot more attractive.
This initial choice may have deprived me of opportunities, especially in the service of my country. But he avoided the seemingly eternal regrets of those who came out badly. And there are so many ways to be useful !
During the last three years, however, I had the honor of participating in the European Affairs Jury as part of the admission examinations of this school. We finished Friday night the 2019 session.
At every moment, I perceived the trust that was accorded me as a privilege, with the requirement of fairness and rigor that ensues. And it has been a privilege clearly to be part of the teams that organize this competition with rigor and enthusiasm, from those who welcome benevolent candidates to the management teams.
I was able to practice the three different entry routes (external competition, internal competition, and the third competition, opened to people coming from the private sector), and with regard to all these candidates, the word that comes to mind is : admiration.
Then we’ll see! Never has our society needed so much meaning. The selection and training of our senior officials can help. Let’s hope that we will go in the right direction !
Iconography : the National School of Administration (ENA), Strasbourg, © KESSLER VINCENT / SIPA
After working as an international banker for emerging countries, Laurent Lascols became global head of country risk / sovereign risk (from 2008 to 2013) then global director of public affairs (from 2014 to 2019) for Societe Generale. In 2021, he founded Aristote, an advisory firm and training organization dedicated to environmental economics, sustainable finance and impact finance.