Francophone education at the heart of France’s diplomacy of influence

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At the end of the Days of the cooperation and influence network, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna outlined the political priorities of France’s diplomacy of influence and reminded an objective: climbing back on the podium of the most attractive countries at university level.

The Journées du réseau de coopération et d'influence (Days of the cooperation and influence network) brought together representatives of the cooperation and cultural action departments of French embassies on 19 and 20 July in Paris. In her closing speech at this event for exchanging information and sharing best practices, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna outlined the political priorities of France’s diplomacy of influence.

Education: top priority

Education in the broadest sense (French language teaching, French education abroad and higher education) is the top priority for French diplomacy of influence.

On this occasion, the Minister recalled the objective, shared with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, of “climbing back on the podium of the most attractive nations for foreign students”. To reach this goal, she offered to “improve the Bienvenue en France strategy”, in collaboration with Campus France, and specifically to:

Continue the doubling of study scholarships by 2027
Engage alumni further through the organisation of a dedicated day to bring them together every year
Continue the development of Franco-foreign campuses, which are “innovative systems to attract students to higher education”.

These priorities expressed by Catherine Colonna for university attractiveness are in line with the roadmap defined by her predecessor Jean-Yves le Drian.