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This article analyses the role of transparency in public administration ethics in France since the 1970s. The historical study of transparency, both as a public service value and an ethical tool used to control behaviors, puts into perspective the innovations of the ethics law of 20 April 2016. This law supports the use of preventive mechanisms of transparency in order to ensure the “right” behavior of public sector officials but at the same time lowers the place of transparency in the hierarchy of public service’s core values. The law also consolidates the role of both the Public Service Ethics Commission and the Council of State as the guardians of good administrative practices.