Gérard M.J. Deprez (born 13 August 1943 in Noville,

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the president of the Walloon Christian Social Party (PSC) from 1981 to 1996. In 1998 he left the PSC and founded the

Citizens' Movement for Change Citizens' Movement for Change (french: Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement, MCC) is a Christian-democratic political party in the French Community of Belgium founded by Gérard Deprez in 1998. Deprez was the leader of the Francophone Christ ...

(MCC). He was 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 ...

representing the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédé ...

for six terms from 1984 to 2009 and again from 2014 until 2019. He is the Delegate General of the

European Democratic Party The European Democratic Party (EDP) ( French: Parti Démocrate Européen; PDE) also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. François Bayrou is the President of the party. All ...

Life and political career

Deprez studied philosophy, language and literature and added postgraduate studies in sociology. He worked as an assistant lecturer at the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

from 1966 to 1974 and did his doctorate at the same time. Subsequently, he went into politics, serving as adviser in the office of the Minister for French Culture for one year. Then he became political adviser to the president of the PSC. In 1979 he became the head of the Deputy Prime Minister's office. In 1981 he was elected president of the PSC and stayed for 15 years. In this capacity, he was a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

's policy bureau, as well. In 1984 he was elected to the European Parliament for the first time. In 1995, he was conferred the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

.MEP's biography at the European Parliament's site
Retrieved on 29 January 2013. In the same year, he announced his retirement as party leader. His successor was, to Deprez' discontent,

Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb Baron Charles-Ferdinand N. M. P. Nothomb (born 3 May 1936) is a French-speaking Belgian politician. He is a member of the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH). He served as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1980 until 1981, and as Minister ...

. Deprez proposed to confederate the PSC with the Liberal Reformist Party (PRL), but could not convince his party colleagues. Therefore, he was edged out of the party and founded the MCC in 1998. He immediately forged an alliance of his new party with the PRL and the regionalist Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF), which became the

Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (french: Mouvement Réformateur, MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium. MR is traditionally a conservative-liberal party, but it also contains social-liberal factions. The party is in coalition as pa ...

(MR) in 2002 and of which Deprez has since been a vice-chairman. In 2004 he left the European Parliament's group of the

and joined the

and the parliamentary group

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

(ALDE). He served in the European Parliament's

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

and a member of the Delegation to the EU-

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Joint Parliamentary Committee. Deprez was the winner of the Justice and Civil Liberties Award, MEP Awards 2017.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deprez, Gerard 1943 births Living people People from Bastogne Walloon people Belgian Ministers of State MEPs for Belgium 1994–1999 MEPs for Belgium 1999–2004 MEPs for Belgium 2004–2009 MEPs for Belgium 2014–2019 European Democratic Party European Democratic Party MEPs