The French equivalent of MI6 was glamorised in The Bureau, an internationally acclaimed television series, but in recent years it has been spooked by a series of intelligence failures, reports The Times.
The head of the Directorate General for External Security has been replaced after the agency was blamed for failing to anticipate the Russian invasion of Ukraine and coups in several former French colonies in west Africa. French spies were also caught out when Australia abruptly abandoned a big submarine deal in 2021.
Nicolas Lerner, 45, takes over as the directorate’s new boss after five years at the helm of its sister agency, the Directorate General of Internal Security, which is in charge of domestic intelligence. He was its youngest ever chief and was credited with reorganising counter-terrorism and counter-espionage operations. He now becomes the youngest head of the foreign agency at a time of international turmoil and declining French influence, especially in Africa.
Bespectacled, bearded and balding, Lerner may not fit the James Bond mould, but he has charisma and a common touch. He says he has watched the US drug drama Breaking Bad five times and likes to play football with colleagues. They describe him as a brilliant intelligence analyst who is good at managing people. He was President Macron’s classmate at the École Nationale d’Administration, the elite college whose graduates secure top positions in government, the civil service and industry.
Lerner will now oversee intelligence-gathering missions outside France for the agency that insiders call “la Boîte”, a slang term meaning “the Firm”.