French government minister
Minister of the Interior
(
French
:
Ministre de l'Interieur
;
French pronunciation:
[minist??
d?
l??te?jœ?]
) is a prominent position in the
Government of France
. The position is equivalent to the
interior minister
in other countries, like the
Home Secretary
in the
United Kingdom
, the
Minister of Public Safety
in
Canada
, or the
Minister of Home Affairs
in
Australia
.
Responsibilities
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]
The Minister of the Interior is responsible for the following:
- The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes
- the granting of identity documents (
passports
,
identity cards
) and
driving licenses
through the network of
prefectures
and
subprefectures
- relations between the central government and local governments
- logistics and organisation of political
elections
, at the national and prefectoral levels; the results of the elections are overseen by the
Constitutional Council
or the administrative courts
- regulation of immigration and preventing illegal immigration
- integration of legal immigrants (professionally, linguistically, housing)
- all
regional
and
departmental
prefects
and
subprefects
are subordinate to the Minister of the Interior
The Minister of the Interior also takes on the role of the former
Minister of Worship
and is formally consulted in the process of appointment of Catholic diocesan bishops (
Briand-Ceretti Agreement
). The Minister of Worship used to be a fully-fledged position; the office was abolished in 1912.
While the Ministry of the Interior supervises police forces, it does not supervise criminal enquiries. Those enquiries are conducted under the supervision of the
judiciary
.
History
[
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]
The
Minister for the Maison du Roi
under the
Ancien Regime
is considered to be the precursor of the position of Minister of the Interior, which was officially established on 7 August 1790, during the
French Revolution
, when
Francois-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest
became the inaugural officeholder. Although his tasks included the organisation of elections, relations with local authorities, agriculture, as well as trade, the Minister of the Interior's main duty was to oversee the functioning of police forces. This has been the case since then, with the exception of the period from 1796 to 1818, when a
Ministry of Police
was in use, which was also briefly restored under the
Second Empire
.
During the
First Empire
, the Interior Ministry's tasks were reduced; in 1824, the
Ministry of Public Instruction
was established to oversee France's education policy. In 1832, the Interior Ministry was primarily occupied with the holding of elections and maintenance of the firefighters force, as the
Institut de France
and national public libraries were transferred to the Public Instruction Ministry. In 1836, the
Ministry of Public Works, Agriculture and Commerce
was established.
In 1911, the Directorate of Penitentiary Administration, established in 1858 in the Interior Ministry to oversee
prison conditions
, was placed under the authority of the
Minister of Justice
. Nine years later, the Interior Ministry lost its public health policy department to the newly established
Ministry of Hygiene, Assistance and Social Security
.
Location
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]
The ministry's headquarters have been located on
Place Beauvau
, facing the
Elysee Palace
, since 1861. "Place Beauvau" is often used as a
metonym
for the ministry.
Organisation
[
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]
The Minister of the Interior has been
Gerald Darmanin
since 6 July 2020. He succeeded
Christophe Castaner
, who was appointed to the office on 16 October 2018. Darmanin is assisted by
Marlene Schiappa
, who holds the junior title of Minister for Citizenship in the
government
of
Prime Minister
Jean Castex
.
See also
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External links
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Head of government
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Ministerial portfolios
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Former portfolios
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