Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Agency overview
Formed1547
JurisdictionGovernment of France
HeadquartersHôtel du ministre des Affaires étrangères, 37 Quai d'Orsay, Paris 7e
Agency executive
Websitediplomatie.gouv.fr

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (French: Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, MEAE) is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Quai d'Orsay is often used as a metonym for the ministry. Its cabinet minister, the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs (French: Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères) is responsible for the foreign relations of France. The current officeholder, Stéphane Séjourné, was appointed in 2024.

In 1547, royal secretaries became specialised, writing correspondence to foreign governments and negotiating peace treaties. The four French secretaries of state where foreign relations were divided by region, in 1589, became centralised with one becoming first secretary responsible for international relations. The Ancien Régime position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs became Foreign Minister around 1723;[1] it was renamed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1791 in the aftermath of early stages of the French Revolution. All ministerial positions were abolished in 1794 by the National Convention and reestablished with the Directory.

For a brief period in the 1980s, the office was retitled Minister for External Relations. As of 2024, it is designated as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs and occupied by Catherine Colonna, who is assisted by two Secretaries of State, currently Chrysoula Zacharopoulou and Laurence Boone.

Central administration

Foreign Affairs Ministry building on the Quai d'Orsay

There are multiple services under its authority, along with that of some other ministers. Under the authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, that of Cooperation and European Affairs, and that of Foreign and European Affairs, there are numerous services directly related to the ministers. Here is a list of those services.

  • The ministers' cabinet
  • The office of cabinets, which gathers a personnel in charge of the administrative and logistics aspects of the three ministers' cabinets
  • The budget control service (CBCM)
  • General inspection of foreign affairs (IGAE)
  • The prospective office (DP)
  • The Protocole, upon which the President's protocol cell relies
  • The Crisis management Department (CDC)

Secretaries of State (1547–1723)

Namefromto
Guillaume Bochetel, seigneur de Sussy15471558
Côme Clausse, seigneur de Marchaumont15471559
Claude de l’Aubespine1 April 15471567
Jean du Thiers, seigneur de Beauregard15471559
Jacques Bourdin, seigneur de Villeines15581567
Florimond II Robertet, seigneur de Fresnes15581567
Florimond III Robertet d'Alluye15591569
Claude II de l’Aubespine8 July 15671570
Simon Fizes, baron de Sauves22 October 156727 November 1579
Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy28 October 15671588
Pierre Brûlart, seigneur de Genlis8 June 15691588
Claude Pinart, seigneur de Comblisy and Crambailles15701588
Louis de Revol1 January 158917 September 1594
Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy30 December 15949 August 1616
Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, Bishop of Luçon30 November 161624 April 1617
Pierre Brulart, vicomte de Puysieux24 April 161711 March 1626
Raymond Phelypeaux, seigneur d'Herbault11 March 16262 May 1629
Claude Bouthillier2 May 162918 March 1632
Léon Bouthillier, comte de Chavigny18 March 163223 June 1643
Henri-Auguste de Loménie, comte de Brienne23 June 16433 April 1663
Hugues de Lionne3 April 16631 September 1671
Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne1 September 167118 November 1679
Charles Colbert, marquis de Croissy12 February 168028 July 1696
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Torcy28 July 169622 September 1715
Nicolas du Blé, marquis d'Huxelles23 September 17151 September 1718

Minister for Foreign Affairs (1718–1791)

Namefromto
Guillaume Dubois24 September 171810 August 1723
Charles Jean-Baptiste Fleuriau, comte de Morville16 August 172319 August 1727
Germain Louis Chauvelin23 August 172720 February 1737
Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou22 February 173726 April 1744
Adrien Maurice, duc de Noailles26 April 174419 November 1744
René de Voyer de Paulmy, marquis d'Argenson19 November 174410 January 1747
Louis Philogène Brûlart, vicomte de Puisieulx27 January 17479 September 1751
François Dominique de Barberie de Saint-Contest11 September 175124 July 1754
Antoine Louis Rouillé24 July 175428 June 1757
François Joachim de Pierre de Bernis28 June 17579 October 1758
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul3 December 175813 October 1761
César Gabriel de Choiseul-Chevigny, duc de Praslin13 October 176110 April 1766
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul10 April 176624 December 1770
Louis Phélypeaux, duc de La Vrillère24 December 17706 June 1771
Emmanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon6 June 17712 June 1774
Henri Léonard Jean Baptiste Bertin2 June 177421 July 1774
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes21 July 177413 February 1787
Armand Marc, comte de Montmorin Saint-Hérem14 February 178713 July 1789
Paul François de Quelen, duc de la Vauguyon13 July 178916 July 1789
Armand Marc, comte de Montmorin Saint-Hérem16 July 178929 November 1791

Ministers of Foreign Affairs (1791–2007)

Namefromto
Claude Antoine Valdec de Lessart29 November 179115 March 1792
Charles Dumouriez15 March 179213 June 1792
Pierre Paul de Méredieu, baron de Naillac13 June 179218 June 1792
Scipion Victor, marquis de Chambonas18 June 179223 July 1792
François Joseph de Gratet, vicomte Dubouchage23 July 17921 August 1792
Claude Bigot de Sainte-Croix1 August 179210 August 1792
Pierre Henri Hélène Marie Lebrun-Tondu10 August 179221 June 1793
François Louis Michel Chemin Deforgues21 June 17932 April 1794
Jean Marie Claude Alexandre Goujon5 April 17948 April 1794
Martial Joseph Armand Herman8 April 179420 April 1794
Philibert Buchot20 April 17943 November 1795
Michel Ange Bernard Mangourit3 November 179421 November 1794
André François Miot de Melito21 November 179419 February 1795
Jean-Victor Colchen19 February 17953 November 1795
Charles-François Delacroix3 November 179515 July 1797
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord15 July 179720 July 1799
Charles-Frédéric Reinhard20 July 179922 November 1799

Consulate and First Empire

Namefromto
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent22 November 17999 August 1807
Jean-Baptiste Nompère de Champagny, duc de Cadore9 August 180717 April 1811
Hugues Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano17 April 181120 November 1813
Armand Augustin Louis Caulaincourt, duc de Vicence20 November 18131 April 1814
Antoine René Charles Mathurin, comte de Laforest3 April 181413 May 1814

First Restoration and the Hundred Days

Namefromto
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent13 May 181420 March 1815
Armand Augustin Louis Caulaincourt, duc de Vicence20 March 181522 June 1815
Louis, baron Bignon22 June 18157 July 1815

Second Restoration

Namefromto
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent9 July 181526 September 1815
Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de Richelieu26 September 181529 December 1818
Jean Joseph Paul Augustin, marquis Dessolles29 December 181819 November 1819
Étienne Denis, baron Pasquier19 November 181914 December 1821
Mathieu Jean Félicité, duc de Montmorency-Laval14 December 182128 December 1822
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand28 December 18224 August 1824
Ange Hyacinthe Maxence, baron de Damas4 August 18244 January 1828
Auguste, comte de La Ferronays4 January 182824 April 1829
Anne Pierre Adrien, duc de Montmorency-Laval24 April 182914 May 1829
Joseph-Marie, comte Portalis14 May 18298 August 1829
Jules Armand Auguste Marie, prince de Polignac8 August 182929 July 1830
Victor Louis Victurnien, duc de Mortemart29 July 1830
Louis, baron Bignon31 July 18301 August 1830

July Monarchy

Namefromto
Jean-Baptiste, comte Jourdan1 August 183011 August 1830
Louis, comte Molé11 August 18302 November 1830
Nicolas Joseph, marquis Maison2 November 183017 November 1830
Horace François Bastien, baron Sébastiani17 November 183011 October 1832
Victor, duc de Broglie11 October 18324 April 1834
Henri Gauthier, comte de Rigny4 April 183410 November 1834
Charles Joseph, comte Bresson10 November 183418 November 1834
Henri Gauthier, comte de Rigny18 November 183412 March 1835
Victor, duc de Broglie12 March 183522 February 1836
Adolphe Thiers22 February 18366 September 1836
Louis, comte Molé6 September 183631 March 1839
Louis Napoléon Lannes, duc de Montebello31 March 183912 May 1839
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie12 May 18391 March 1840
Adolphe Thiers1 March 184029 October 1840
François Guizot29 October 184023 February 1848

Second Republic

Namefromto
Alphonse de Lamartine24 February 184811 May 1848
Jules Bastide11 May 184829 June 1848
Marie-Alphonse Bedeau29 June 184817 July 1848
Jules Bastide17 July 184820 December 1848
Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys20 December 18482 June 1849
Alexis de Tocqueville2 June 184931 October 1849
Alphonse de Rayneval31 October 184917 November 1849
Jean-Ernest Ducos, vicomte de La Hitte17 November 18499 January 1851
Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys9 January 185124 January 1851
Anatole, baron Brénier de Renaudière24 January 185110 April 1851
Jules Baroche10 April 185126 October 1851
Louis Félix Étienne, marquis de Turgot26 October 185128 July 1852

Second Empire

Namefromto
Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys28 July 18527 May 1855
Alexandre Colonna, comte Walewski7 May 18554 January 1860
Jules Baroche4 January 186024 January 1860
Édouard Thouvenel24 January 186015 October 1862
Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys15 October 18621 September 1866
Charles, marquis de La Valette1 September 18662 October 1866
Lionel de Moustier2 October 186617 December 1868
Charles, marquis de La Valette17 December 186817 July 1869
Henri, prince de La Tour d'Auvergne17 July 18692 January 1870
Napoléon, comte Daru2 January 187014 April 1870
Émile Ollivier14 April 187015 May 1870
Agenor, duc de Gramont15 May 187010 August 1870
Henri, prince de La Tour d'Auvergne10 August 18704 September 1870

Third Republic

Namefromto
Jules Favre4 September 18702 August 1871
Charles, comte de Rémusat2 August 187125 May 1873
Albert, duc de Broglie25 May 187326 November 1873
Louis Decazes, duc de Glucksberg29 November 187323 November 1877
Gaston-Robert, marquis de Banneville23 November 187713 December 1877
William Henry Waddington13 December 187728 December 1879
Charles de Freycinet28 December 187923 September 1880
Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire23 September 188014 November 1881
Léon Gambetta14 November 188130 January 1882
Charles de Freycinet30 January 18827 August 1882
Charles Duclerc7 August 188229 January 1883
Armand Fallières29 January 188321 February 1883
Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour21 February 188320 November 1883
Jules Ferry20 November 18836 April 1885
Charles de Freycinet6 April 188511 December 1886
Émile Flourens11 December 18863 April 1888
René Goblet3 April 188822 February 1889
Eugène Spuller22 February 188917 March 1890
Alexandre Ribot17 March 189011 January 1893
Jules Develle11 January 18933 December 1893
Jean Casimir-Perier3 December 189330 May 1894
Gabriel Hanotaux30 May 18941 November 1895
Marcellin Berthelot1 November 189528 March 1896
Léon Bourgeois28 March 189629 April 1896
Gabriel Hanotaux29 April 189628 June 1898
Théophile Delcassé28 June 18986 June 1905
Maurice Rouvier6 June 190513 March 1906
Léon Bourgeois14 March 190625 October 1906
Stéphen Pichon25 October 19062 March 1911
Jean Cruppi2 March 191127 June 1911
Justin de Selves27 June 19119 January 1912
Raymond Poincaré14 January 191222 January 1913
Charles Jonnart22 January 191322 March 1913
Stéphen Pichon22 March 19139 December 1913
Gaston Doumergue9 December 19139 June 1914
Léon Bourgeois9 June 191413 June 1914
René Viviani13 June 19143 August 1914
Gaston Doumergue3 August 191426 August 1914
Théophile Delcassé26 August 191413 October 1915
René Viviani13 October 191529 October 1915
Aristide Briand29 October 191520 March 1917
Alexandre Ribot20 March 191723 October 1917
Louis Barthou23 October 191716 November 1917
Stéphen Pichon16 November 191720 January 1920
Alexandre Millerand20 January 192024 September 1920
Georges Leygues24 September 192016 January 1921
Aristide Briand16 January 192115 January 1922
Raymond Poincaré15 January 19229 June 1924
Edmond Lefebvre du Prey9 June 192414 June 1924
Édouard Herriot14 June 192417 April 1925
Aristide Briand17 April 192519 July 1926
Édouard Herriot19 July 192623 July 1926
Aristide Briand23 July 192614 January 1932
Pierre Laval14 January 193220 February 1932
André Tardieu20 February 19323 June 1932
Édouard Herriot3 June 193218 December 1932
Joseph Paul-Boncour18 December 193230 January 1934
Édouard Daladier30 January 19349 February 1934
Louis Barthou9 February 19349 October 1934
Pierre Laval13 October 193424 January 1936
Pierre Étienne Flandin24 January 19364 June 1936
Yvon Delbos4 June 193613 March 1938
Joseph Paul-Boncour13 March 193810 April 1938
Georges Bonnet10 April 193813 September 1939
Édouard Daladier13 September 193921 March 1940
Paul Reynaud21 March 194018 May 1940
Édouard Daladier18 May 19405 June 1940
Paul Reynaud5 June 194016 June 1940

Vichy Regime

Namefromto
Paul Baudoin16 June 194028 October 1940
Pierre Laval28 October 194013 December 1940
Pierre Étienne Flandin13 December 19409 February 1941
François Darlan10 February 194118 April 1942
Pierre Laval18 April 194220 August 1944

Free French Commissioners

Namefromto
Maurice Dejean24 September 194117 October 1942
René Pleven17 October 19425 February 1943
René Massigli5 February 194310 September 1944

Fourth Republic

Namefromto
Georges Bidault10 September 194416 December 1946
Léon Blum16 December 194622 January 1947
Georges Bidault22 January 194726 July 1948
Robert Schuman26 July 19488 January 1953
Georges Bidault8 January 195319 June 1954
Pierre Mendès-France19 June 195420 January 1955
Edgar Faure20 January 195523 February 1955
Antoine Pinay23 February 19551 February 1956
Christian Pineau1 February 195614 May 1958
René Pleven14 May 19581 June 1958

Fifth Republic

Namefromto
Maurice Couve de Murville1 June 195830 May 1968
Michel Debré30 May 196822 June 1969
Maurice Schumann22 June 196915 March 1973
André Bettencourt15 March 19734 April 1973
Michel Jobert4 April 197328 May 1974
Jean Sauvagnargues28 May 197427 August 1976
Louis de Guiringaud27 August 197629 November 1978
Jean François-Poncet29 November 197822 May 1981
Claude Cheysson22 May 19817 December 1984
Roland Dumas7 December 198420 March 1986
Jean-Bernard Raimond20 March 198612 May 1988
Roland Dumas12 May 198829 March 1993
Alain Juppé29 March 199318 May 1995
Hervé de Charette18 May 19954 June 1997
Hubert Védrine4 June 19977 May 2002
Dominique de Villepin7 May 200231 March 2004
Michel Barnier31 March 20042 June 2005
Philippe Douste-Blazy2 June 200515 May 2007

Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs (2007–2012)

Namefromto
Bernard Kouchner16 May 200714 November 2010
Michèle Alliot-Marie14 November 201027 February 2011
Alain Juppé27 February 201115 May 2012

Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Development (2012–2017)

Namefromto
Laurent Fabius16 May 201211 February 2016
Jean-Marc Ayrault11 February 201610 May 2017

Ministers of Europe and Foreign Affairs (2017–present)

Namefromto
Jean-Yves Le Drian17 May 201720 May 2022
Catherine Colonna20 May 202211 January 2024
Stéphane Séjourné11 January 2024In office

See also

References

  1. ↑ (in French) Charles Hélion Marie le Gendre Luçay (comte de), Des origines du pouvoir ministériel en France: les secrétaires d'état depuis leur institution jusqu'à la mort de Louis XV, Librairie de la Société bibliographique, 1881.l

Further reading

  • Feske, Victor H. "The Road To Suez: The British Foreign Office and the Quai D’Orsay, 1951–1957" in The Diplomats, 1939–1979 (2019) pp. 167–200; online
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