Laurent Galzy will replace Philippe Desfossés at the helm of France’s €30bn mandatory pension scheme for civil servants, it was announced today.

Galzy was appointed to a four-year term by way of a government order published today, according to ERAFP.

His term was to start next week.

A senior civil servant, Galzy was at Aéroports de Paris from 2002 until 2016, most latterly as a deputy director general for “international and participation”.

Before joining the airport operator, he held several budget management positions in the French ministry for economy and finance, in the areas of infrastructure, transport and regional planning and local authority development.

In 1999 he became director of the industry, transport and research sub-division of the ministry’s budget management department.

Like his predecessor at ERAFP, Galzy studied at the École Nationale d’Administration, France’s post-graduate training ground for top-level civil servants.

Desfossés, whose departure from ERAFP had already been reported, led the public service fund as chief executive since 2008.