Geoffroy Didier (born 12 April 1976) is a French lawyer and politician of the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

since 2017.

Early life and education

Didier graduated from

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

in 1998 and obtained a master's degree in business law from the

University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1999. He also holds a degree from ESSEC Business School (2004).

Political career

Career in national politics

In 2008, Didier worked as an advisor to Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Cooperative Development

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...

in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

François Fillon. During the campaign for the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

, Didier served as deputy spokesman for candidate

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

, along with

Franck Riester Franck Riester (born 3 January 1974) is a French politician who has been serving as Minister Delegate for Parliamentary Relations in the Government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne since July 2022. He previously served as Minister Delegate for ...

Guillaume Peltier Guillaume Peltier (; born 27 August 1976) is a French politician, former teacher and business leader who has represented the 2nd constituency of the Loir-et-Cher department in the National Assembly since 2017. He has also served in the Depart ...

Valérie Debord Valérie Debord (born 29 November 1971) was a member of the National Assembly of France. She is of Italian origin and represented the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, and was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Po ...

and Salima Saa. After the elections, he joined forces with

in founded

The Strong Right The Strong Right (''La Droite forte'') was a conservative faction within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and later The Republicans (LR). It was created as a faction in July 2012 by Guillaume Peltier and Geoffroy Didier. Ideology The moti ...

, a conservative

faction Faction or factionalism may refer to: Politics * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...

within the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

(UMP). He also became the party's deputy secretary general, under the leadership of chairman

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

. In addition, he became a member of the Friends of Nicolas Sarkozy group. Considered close to

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...

, Didier played a prominent role in many of her political campaigns, including when she became the head of the Paris region in the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

. In March 2016, Didier announced his candidacy for the Republicans’ primaries ahead of the

2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...

, but failed to secure a sufficient number of votes. He later endorsed

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...

as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

before supporting the campaign of François Fillon. In the party's 2017 leadership election, Didier supported

Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2017–present

Didier unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

. However, when

Constance Le Grip Constance Le Grip (born 14 November 1960) is a French politician, formerly of The Republican Group, who currently serves as a member of the 15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic, representing Hauts-de-Seine's 6th constituency. She serv ...

stood down as a

Member of the Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

to move to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, Didier took her seat in June 2017. He has since been serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs, where he became the parliament's rapporteur on the 2021 Digital Services Act. In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age. In addition to his committee assignments, Didier is a member of the delegation for relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. When Wauquiez resigned from the Republicans’ leadership in 2019, Didier was considered by news media as a potential successor but soon announced that he would not be putting himself forward for the position; instead, he endorsed Christian Jacob.

Political positions

In early 2020, Didier called on

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held ...

Josep Borrell in a letter to suspend the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement and demand action against cases of so-called parental child abduction affecting Europeans living in Japan.Marine Strauss and Chang-Ran Kim (17 February 2020)
Two fathers demand action against Japan over parental child abduction
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didier, Geoffroy 1976 births Living people The Republicans (France) politicians MEPs for France 2019–2024 The Republicans (France) MEPs Politicians from Île-de-France People from Boulogne-Billancourt Sciences Po alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Columbia University alumni