General secretary of national defense

The General secretary of national defense is a governmental body French, service of the Prime Minister, specifically dedicated to the work of interdepartmental coordination as regards defense and of safety. Attached directly to the Hotel Matignon, SGDN assists the Prime Minister defense safety main roads. Purely administrative body, the SGDN does not have any political weight in the management of the files which fall on to him. Its missions are as its name indicates it those of a secretariat, it is the “clerk” of the cabinet of the Prime Minister.

Since July 26th 2004, the General secretary of national defense is Francis Delon, adviser of State, previously president of the Commission of Classification of Cinematographic works.

History

As of 1906 was created a superior council of national defense, organization of study which periodically brought together the Ministers for the war, the foreign affairs and the interior. The permanence of the need for a coordination continued already: it ceased forever since.

Between 1921 and 1939, learning the lessons from the First World War, the government entrusted at a superior council of national defense and his permanent General secretary, the preparation of measurements of human, economic and administrative mobilization for time of war.

After the Second world war, the coordination of defense was ensured by only one organization, the general staff of national defense, become thereafter permanent staff of the President of the council.

In 1950 was re-established the division of the roles between the permanent general secretary of national defense and a staff combined of the armed forces, placed all the two pennies the authority of the Chef of the government.

Under the V {{E}} Republic, after a few years, 1962 again saw the dissociation of two competences between a staff of the armies depend on the ministry for Defense and the SGDN, placed under the authority of the Prime Minister. In same time, the evolution of the notion and realities of defense and safety directed the missions of the SGDN towards a broader framework.

Missions

The General secretary of national defense assists the Prime Minister in the coordination of the preparation, the implementation and the follow-up of the decisions of the government, concerning the general policy of defense, in accordance with the Code of defense.

SGDN coordinates several ministries defense safety. It has a manpower of 540 people and a budget of 104 million euros.

SGDN ensures the defense committee and Council Secretariat of defense, that of the Inter-ministerial committee of information (CIR), and follows the evolution of communication and information technologies.

SGDN chairs also the meetings of the interdepartmental Commission for the study of exports of weaponry (CIEEMG) and coordinates the actions of economic Intelligence, of which the high ranking official is Alain Juillet, former director of the information of DGSE.

However, several intelligence services feel its supervision like administrative and bureaucratic. The ministry for defense would wish that the SGDN be attached to him.

Action plan

the SGDN contributes to the preparation, the installation and the follow-up of the reforms of the defense policy. It takes part in the completion of the reform of the Armies and sets up the interdepartmental evaluation of the programmes of defense by in particular learning the lessons from the international crises or interior, or related to two dimensions - interior and external - of our defense and our safety, following the attacks of the September 11th 2001. It carries out interdepartmental work relating to the law of programming soldier 2003-2008 and the evaluation of model of army 2015, in the light of the evolution of our environment of safety.

In second place, it follows the problems involved in the impact of the scientific, technical and industrial evolutions which constitute the environment of the defense policy and safety. It grants a priority essential with the Technologies information and communication, bringing to the State a greater reactivity, taking an overall action as regards security of the information systems, as well civilians as soldiers. It is about a major stake, whose government makes a priority mission, through one of the directions of the SGDN, the Central management of the Information system security (DCSSI).

In third place, the SGDN takes care of the control of the transfers of armament and takes part in the fight against the proliferation of the Armes of massive destruction. It animates the prevention policy, and makes sure of the vigilance of the State. He undertakes the actualization of the applicable directives by the Interdepartmental Commission on the Study of Exports of Weaponries (CIEEMG) and the examination of the legal and institutional evolutions of control. The interdepartmental action thus tends to promote a strategy homogeneous of export of our equipment, in coherent legal framework and diplomatic with engagements of France.

the fourth axis relates to the construction of the Europe safety defense. The SGDN contributes to the reflection and interdepartmental work on Europe of defense. It leads, jointly with the General secretary of the European businesses (SGAE), interdepartmental work in the sectors of the armament, space, new technologies, the protection of the populations and the safety of the provisioning.

the fifth work axis of the General secretary relates to the reflections, the evolution of the organization of the State, and the implementation of the decisions, in the interdepartmental plan, being vital”, or “essential” infrastructures the “, thus named because they allow the continuity of the life of the nation: transport, energy, systems and communication networks and of information… It is a question, in these fields, of drawing the conclusions from the storms of the winter 1999 - 2000, of the passage to the year 2000, but also of the new conditions of the control of the crises on the national territory, like showed it, in 2001, the example of Vimy. The whole of this work fits from now on in the context of the attacks of the September 11th 2001, their consequences and their continuations.

Organization of the SGDN

Direction of the International and Strategic Businesses (BOARD)

She exerts the functions of day before prospective, synthesis as well as preparation of governmental arbitrations with regard to international dimension, and in particular European, of the questions of security and defense.

She ensures the animation and the interdepartmental coordination of these files. For this reason, it follows in particular the various aspects of the French policy as regards European construction: control of the crises, soldiers or civil; policy of the armament; negotiation of the great projects. It is also charged to provide an instantaneous or medium-term analysis of the impact as regards safety of the conflict situations, or potentially generators of crises, all over the world.

The coordination of the international activity of the various components of the SGDN is entrusted to him. The Interdepartmental Center of Translation (CIT) is attached to him.

Direction of the Protection and the Safety of State (PSE)

Charged with ensuring, in all circumstances, the freedom and the safety of the communications of the public authorities, this direction takes care parallel to the protection and of the safety of the populations on the territory. It is organized around three missions:

preparation of the State to the major Risk S, the news Threat S and the crises;
the protection of the Secret of the National defense and the classified information;
continuity and the Safety of the networks and transmissions governmental.

Its action takes into account international dimension: it is also located in the evolutionary context of information the Technologies and the communication, vis-a-vis the new risks which can affect the vital Infrastructure S of the country.

The Signal center governmental, in particular in charge of the transmissions of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister in France and abroad, as well as interconnection and implementation of the protected transmissions networks, is attached to him.

Direction of Technologies and Significant Transfers (TTS)

It ensures the control of exports of the weaponries.

It works out and proposes, for this reason, of the coherent national policies in the respect of the international engagements taken by France. It contributes to direct the action of the intelligence services and safety in these fields. It takes care of the application and the evolutions of the regulations of the code of conduct of the European Union as regards export.

It is in charge of the interdepartmental coordination of the capacities of the State against the proliferation of the weapons of massive destruction.

It also took part in the reinforcement of the protection of the technical and scientific inheritance French, like with the general and strategic in the nuclear power fields, space, ballistic, biological and chemical day before. It aims, finally, with the safeguarding of the interests of national security which could be affected by the reorganizations of our industry of defense.

The central management of the information system security (DCSSI)

The Inter-ministerial committee of Information (CIR)

It ensures the secretariat of the Interministerial meetings concerning the information.

It establishes, with the profit of more the high ranking authorities of the State, of the syntheses of the information and the notes of anticipation and alarm. It organizes and animates the work groups envisaged by the National plan of Information (PNR) of which it coordinates the development as a whole.

Direction of the General Administration (AG)

Responsible for the activities of administrative management, financial and human of the SGDN, its role is to coordinate, on the matter, the whole of the work of the various directions and services of the General secretary.

The SGDN counts more than 500 agents. Civilians and soldiers, engineers, diplomats, members of the prefectoral body or academics, on some level of responsibility whom they are, the women and the men which work there form a community, conscious of the stakes of the defense and safety of the country and role that they play there.

General secretaries of national defense

general Jean Olié
general Jean Simon
general Rhenter
general Jacques de Barry
general Gilbert Forray
Guy Fougier
Achilles Lerche: June 18th, 1993
Jean Picq: July 6th, 1995
Isabelle Renouard: December 9th, 1996
Jean-Claude Mallet: July 24th, 1998
Francis Delon: July 29th, 2004

General secretaries assistant of national defense

vice-admiral of squadron Ghislain de Langre
Rémy Pautrat: March 3rd, 1994
rear-admiral Jean Moulin: Major general March 6th, 1996
Pierre Costedoat: September 9th, 1998
air lieutenant-general Bertrand Dumont: July 12th, 2000
vice-admiral of squadron Edouard Scott de Martinville: September 9th, 2002
since: Major general Jean Coulloumme-Labarthe

External bonds

Code of defense (extracted)
of May 15th, 2002
Pages devoted to the SGDN on the site of the Prime Minister

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