French diplomats ‘are world’s best’
Advisers to the UK government admit the French do things better – the UK now wants to be top by 2015
FRENCH diplomats are the world’s best at their job, says a panel of experts advising the British government.
The UK’s top diplomat, Simon Fraser, said the French have been judged top and the UK number two. He was reporting to MPs after a meeting of an expert panel assembled by British Foreign Minister William Hague to see how the diplomatic service could improve.
Hague has now given himself the goal of being the best by 2015, said the BBC.
Mr Fraser told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee the French are especially good at single-minded pursuit of national economic interests. This was something the UK could do more of, while at the same time pursuing goals like support for human rights.
As a result Britain will try to be more “hard-headed and focused on delivering the national interest”, the BBC said.
The comments followed the first meeting of the Diplomatic Excellence External Panel, which is studying the diplomatic service’s progress and comparing it to other countries’ ones. Its members include politicians, businesspeople, journalists and representatives of NGOs.
For centuries French had a reputation as “the language of diplomacy”, with diplomats around the world using it – a position that has more recently been overtaken by the rise of English, to the dismay of defenders of French.
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