Ministre plénipotentiaire

A ministre plénipotentiaire is in the diplomatic language the accredited representative of a government to a foreign power, who does not hold the rank of ambassador , but normally has negotiating powers . He or she is usually addressed as Monsieur / Madame le ministre .

In France , the Ministres plénipotentiaires are officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and belong to the diplomatic corps . Many of them are appointed ambassadors, but they are extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of France to ... and not ambassadors of France .

There were similar functions in other European countries in the past centuries; here they carried designations that can be translated with extraordinary envoy and authorized minister .