Crisis Management in France: Trends, Shifts and Perspectives

The object of this article is to give an idea of crisis management in France. I will look at two principal axes: firstly, a simplified outline of the system as it has evolved over the years and with regard to the major changes it is undergoing today; secondly, an overview of the efforts recently made by the most progressive actors in the field. Traditionally, all analyses of this type have concentrated on the French exception, that is, a centralised country answering to a strong state, largely influenced by past references, doctrines, hierarchical rules, and technical dispositions. Although this image is still very accurate in many respects, France has been progressively losing its ‘classicism’. This has come about as a result, first and foremost, of the growing number of crises which contradict the logic of long–standing references. Uncertainties, multiplicity of actors, masses of information, major surprises, cross–over events and abrupt changes are but some of the elements which are increasingly difficult to absorb within pre–established historical models. With the profusion of new actors and networks of people unaware of former royal or Napoleonic regulations, the cards are largely being dealt between the public and the private, the central and the local, the national and the international, and so on. Transformation is continuously occurring by the accumulation of new laws (e.g. decentralisation) or specific adjustments (e.g. critical infrastructures). International markets and new information technologies also play a key role in this transformation. But perhaps the most powerful motor for change are crises. More often than not, crises lead to a loss of faith in yet unquestioned references, with regard to legitimacy, credibility and responsibility. France offers a highly contrasted scene as a country still resisting inevitable change. Although there is growing disorder, new opportunities are arising. Wishing to take a dynamic approach to these questions rather than a descriptive one, I have sought to distinguish the main themes and their interactions. I will particularly look at: problems raised by new crises in complex societies; the means necessary for ensuring progress (Boin; Lagadec 2000); resistance to these measures; and, finally, some of the most promising initiatives. The vocation of the European Crisis Management Academy is to share past experience as well as questions and answers in an area of great instability and critical stakes.