Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—including Minister of the Budget—at the same time. He also served as the member of 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 rep ...

for the 6th constituency of

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

and president of 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 List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...

(UMP) group in the National Assembly. In November 2010 he became the party's secretary-general. In August 2012 he announced that he would run for the presidency of the UMP, facing the former Prime Minister

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

. On 19 November 2012 he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the presidency of the UMP with 50.03% of votes from its members, defeating Fillon, who asserted his own victory. He resigned from the post on 27 May 2014 following an invoices scandal and poor results for the UMP at the 2014 European elections.

Personal life

Jean-François Copé was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of Professor Roland Copé, a surgeon of

Romanian Jewish The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

origin, and Monique Ghanassia, of

Algerian Jewish The History of the Jews in Algeria refers to the history of the Jewish community of Algeria, which dates to the 1st century CE. In the 15th century, many Spanish Jews fled to the Maghreb, including today's Algeria, following expulsion from Spai ...

origin. His paternal grandparents were Marcu Hirs Copelovici, a physician born in Iaşi (

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

), and Gisele Lazerovici. His maternal grandparents were Ismael André Ghanassia, a lawyer in Algiers (son of Moïse Ghanassia and Djouhar Soussi, from

Miliana Miliana ( ar, مليانة) is a commune in Aïn Defla Province in northwestern Algeria. It is the administrative center of the daïra, or district, of the same name. It is approximately southwest of the Algerian capital, Algiers.r/sup>, which ...

, in Algeria), and Lise Boukhabza (granddaughter of a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n rabbi). Raised in a French Jewish family, he describes himself as "a non-practising Jew" ("''Juif non-pratiquant''"). He studied at the

École Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, and then at Lycée Victor Duruy, where he obtained his Baccalauréat. In 1985 he entered Sciences Po for two years, before attending the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

, from which he graduated in 1989. He followed training seminars on

New Public Management New Public Management (NPM) is an approach to running public service organizations that is used in government and public service institutions and agencies, at both sub-national and national levels. The term was first introduced by academics in the ...

in the United States, and he is a proponent of Benchmarking on budget matters. Divorced, he has four children, François-Xavier, Pierre-Alexis, and Raphaëlla, from his previous marriage, and Faustine, from his current union.

Career

Following his graduation in 1989, he joined the Caisse des dépôts et consignations until 1991. He then worked as head of cabinet for the CEO at

Dexia Dexia N.V./S.A., or the Dexia Group, is a Franco-Belgian financial institution formed in 1996. At its peak in 2010, it had about 35,200 members of staff and a core shareholders' equity of €19.2 billion. In 2008, the bank entered severe ...

, while teaching Local Economy and Finance at Science-Po. He left those attributions in 1993 to get involved in the leading right-wing party at the time, the RPR. In 1997 he came back to teaching as an Associate Professor of Economy and Finance at

Paris 8 University Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is one of the th ...

, up until 2002. He also returned to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations between 1997 and 1999, before joining the supervisory board of

from 2000 to 2002.

Political functions

After serving in various political roles in the RPR and the Balladur government, he became spokesperson for the government of Prime Minister

Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...

in 2002. On 24 November 2004 he became Minister of the Budget and spokesperson for the government in the Raffarin III government; he was renewed in this function in the following Villepin government. Following the 2007 parliamentary election, he became leader of the UMP parliamentary group in the 13th Legislature. In 1995 he became

at 35, and was re-elected in 2001 and 2008. Because of his nomination in the government in 2002, he had to step down in favour of Ange Anziani. Nonetheless, he took back the office in 2005 after Anziani's resignation. He was also regional councillor of Ile-de-France from 1998 to 2007 and was list leader of the UMP- UDF in Ile-de-France in the 2004 regional elections. He became deputy of the 5th constituency of

in 1995, following the nomination of the incumbent to the Juppé government. However, he was defeated in 1997 by a Socialist candidate in a difficult RPR- PS- FN three-way second round race. In 2002, he was elected in the 6th constituency. He was re-elected there by the first round in 2007, becoming President of the UMP Group in the French National Assembly at the same time. In November 2010 he became General Secretary of the

. He declared himself a candidate for the presidency of the UMP in August 2012, facing

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...

and

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...

. He was supported by many strong UMP members, such as former Prime Minister

, UMP leader at the National Assembly Christian Jacob and former Minister of Education Luc Chatel. In September 2012 Copé denounced the development of an anti-White racism by people living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, sparking a nationwide controversy in media and politics. Libération
''«Racisme anti-blanc» : Copé persiste et signe''
27 September 2012, retrieved 13 October 2012 On 19 November 2012 Copé declared himself winner of the Union for a Popular Movement leadership election with 50,03% of votes, an assertion that was contradicted by

who asserted his own victory. In the following days, the crisis amplified with a mutual accusation of fraud. On 27 February 2014 '' Le Point'' magazine accused Copé of using a friend's company as contractor for UMP's events organisation, and overpaying it. Copé rejected the charges, accused the magazine's editor of persecution and sued him. Following UMP's poor results in the 2014 European elections and accusations linked with the Bygmalion invoices scandal, Copé was forced to resign as UMP chairman on 27 May 2014. UMP leader quits amid €10m scandal
/ref> However, Copé was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the justice. A candidate to the 2016 Republican primary, he ended last with only 0.3%. He supported

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

against his former rival François Fillon in the second ballot.

Political career

;Governmental functions *Secretary of State for Relationships with Parliament and Government's spokesman: 2002–2004. *Minister delegated to Interior and Government's spokesman: March–November 2004. *Minister of Budget, Budget Reform and Government's spokesman: 2004–2005. *Minister of Budget, State Reform and Government's spokesman: 2005–2007. ;Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

*President of the

Group in the National Assembly: 2007–2010 (Resignation). *Member of the National Assembly of France for

(5th, then 6th constituency): 1995–1997 / Reelected in 2002, but he became secretary of State / Since 2007. Elected in 1995, reelected in 2002, 2007, 2012.

Regional Council

*Regional councillor of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

: 1998–2007 (Resignation). Reelected in 2004.

Municipal Council

*Mayor of

: 1995–2002 (Resignation) / Since 2005. Reelected in 2001, 2005, 2008. *Deputy-mayor of Meaux: 2002–2005. *Municipal councillor of Meaux: Since 1995. Reelected in 2001, 2008.

Agglomeration community Council

*Président of the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Meaux: Since 2003. Reelected in 2008. *Member of the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Meaux: Since 2003. Reelected in 2008.

Political functions

*Deputy General secretary of the Rally for the Republic: 2001–2002. *General Secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2010-2012. *Président of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2012-2014.

Bibliography

Books by Jean-François Copé

* 1990 : ''Finances locales'' – Economica (Reissued in 1993 (), and with François Werner in 1997 ()) * 1999 : ''Ce que je n'ai pas appris à l'ENA. L'aventure d'un maire'' – Hachette Littératures. . * 2002 : ''Devoir d'inventaire. Le dépôt de bilan de Lionel Jospin'' –

Éditions Albin Michel Éditions Albin Michel is a French publisher. In January 2022, the new director is Anna Pavlowitch, the daughter of Paul Pavlowitch, Romain Gary and Jean Seberg's nephew. History It was founded in 1900 by Albin Michel. They published, first, Ro ...

. . * 2006 : ''Promis, j'arrête la langue de bois'' – Hachette Littératures. . * 2012 : ''Manifeste pour une droite décomplexée'' - Editions Fayard.

References

External links

Webpage at the National Assembly
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Jean-Francois 1964 births Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni 20th-century French Jews Secular Jews French Ministers of Budget French people of Algerian-Jewish descent French people of Romanian-Jewish descent Government spokespersons of France Jewish French politicians Living people Mayors of places in Île-de-France The Republicans (France) politicians People from Boulogne-Billancourt Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Seine-et-Marne