Grand Corps of the French State

The grands corps de l'État (Grand Corps of the [French] State) are a feature of the French state as envisaged in the reforms of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Some of these grands corps date back to the reign of Louis XV, in the 18th century, but most originated or were given their modern form during the reign of Napoléon I.

The exact list of grands corps de l'État is debatable, mainly because there is disagreement about whether a particular corps is grand enough to be counted. However, Who's Who in France gives the following list: the ingénieurs des mines, the ingénieurs des ponts, the administrateurs de l'INSEE, the ingénieurs de l'armement, the conseillers d'État, the Cour des comptes and the inspecteurs des finances.

In France, the members of these grand corps have great importance in the government administration, since many executive positions are held by them. Also many CEOs of great French companies come straight out of these Grand Corps.

The administrative grands corps mainly recruit graduates of the École nationale d'administration (ENA). They are more closely connected with politics than the technical grands corps (listed below) are. François Hollande and Jacques Chirac were both members of the Cour des comptes, and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Michel Rocard were both members of the Inspection des finances.

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