MODERNIZATION OF FRANCE’S DIPLOMATIK SERVISE: RELEVANT EXPERIENCE FOR UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. In the current circumstances facing Ukraine, the diplomatic service emerges as one of the key instruments for strengthening national security and advancing foreign policy activities in the context of growing global challenges, hybrid threats, and the need to ensure sustained international support for the state in countering external aggression. Consequently, the modernization of Ukraine’s diplomatic service should enhance the efficiency of its functioning and lead to the introduction of a set of institutional, personnel, and technological changes aimed at improving the international image of the Ukrainian state in its confrontation with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. France, as one of the leading and most influential countries within the European Union and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been undertaking a large-scale transformation of its foreign policy apparatus over the past decade. The modernization of France’s diplomatic service is aimed at increasing the professional mobility of diplomats, optimizing the structure of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, strengthening interagency coordination, digitalizing diplomatic activities, and enhancing the state’s capacity to respond to global crises. For Ukraine, which is actively reforming its foreign policy system in the context of Russian aggression and European integration, France’s experience is of exceptional value. Purpose. The aim of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the historical background and the key components of the modernization of the French diplomatic service, particularly with regard to identifying relevant elements of this experience that can be implemented in the modernization of Ukraine’s diplomatic service in the context of contemporary global crises and the European integration trajectory of the Ukrainian state. Materials and мethods. The methodological basis of this research includes the principles of public administration theory and international relations, the specifics of diplomatic activity, and foreign practices of diplomatic services in EU member states. The study employs systemic, comparative, structural-functional, and institutional approaches. The empirical basis consists of legal and regulatory documents of the French Republic, the EU, as well as analytical materials. Results. The article demonstrates that the modernization of the French diplomatic service — regarding its institutional and functional transformation — took place under conditions of dynamic changes in the international environment driven by the systemic crisis of globalization. The historical retrospective is analyzed, and the key components of the modernization of France’s diplomatic service are characterized. Relevant elements of its functioning that may be applied to the modernization of Ukraine’s diplomatic service in the context of current globalization challenges are identified. The study outlines the key aspects of the successful modernization of the French diplomatic service, namely: professionalization of the diplomatic corps and implementation of its evaluation system; active Europeanization of foreign policy and strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy; the economization of diplomacy and structural reform of foreign economic activity; modernization of governance structures based on the MAEDI 21 program and their transformation toward global diplomacy; digitalization of diplomatic activity; optimization and strengthening of France’s diplomatic corps; enhancement of interagency coordination in the fields of security, defense, economy, ecology, and innovative technologies. The article also reveals the specific features of the French approach to integrating foreign policy and national security and ensuring interagency cooperation within the foreign policy management system. Discussion. In further scholarly research, it is proposed to examine this topic in the context of a more detailed analysis of the development of France’s diplomatic service, taking into account the impact of contemporary geopolitical challenges faced by the countries of the European Union.