In 1981, President François Mitterrand called him to the Elysee as a diplomatic advisor. He became spokesman of the Elysee in 1988 after the reelection of François Mitterrand, then Secretary General of the Presidency (1991-95). He joined the Council of State in 1995. In May 1997, after the victory of the Socialist Party (PS) in the legislative elections, Jacques Chirac named him Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position that he kept until the end of the cohabitation in May 2002. He published several books, among which Face à l’Hyperpuissance(2003, Fayard), Continuer l’Histoire(2007, Fayard), translated in English in 2008 under the title History Strikes Back, Sauver l'Europe(Editions Liana Levi, 2016, republished in 2019), Comptes à rebours(Fayard, 2018).