Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
), often known as RDDV, is a French politician, France's
Minister of Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
from 2004 to 2007. He is a member of the UMP center-right party, and the grandson of
Henri Donnedieu de Vabres
Henri Donnedieu de Vabres (8 July 1880 – 14 February 1952) was a French jurist who took part in the Nuremberg trials after World War II. He was the primary French judge during the proceedings, with Robert Falco as his alternate.
Donnedieu was ...
.
Biography
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has a degree in economics, and a diploma from the
Paris Institute of Political Studies
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public research university''Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, accreditation ...
, a traditional starting point for 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 of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...
(ENA), a school for high-level civil servants, which he entered in 1978.
After graduating in 1980 from ENA, he started his career in the
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
oral administration as a sub-prefect, chief of staff of the
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...
prefect, then was secretary-general for the police in the Centre region (1980–1981), secretary-general of the
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...
prefecture (1981–1982), sub-prefect of the
Château-Thierry
Château-Thierry () is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne.
The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition att ...
''arrondissement'' (1982–1985).
Political career
From 1986 to 2001 he was regional councillor in the
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
region, president of the UDF group and reporter for the budget (1986–1993).
He began his national political career as an aide to
François Léotard
François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother.
Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the ...
when the latter was
Minister of Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
(1987–1988) in the government of then
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 ...
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
, then as chief of staff in the Republican Party, then one of the components of the UDF. Starting from 1990, he became a member of the political bureau of the party, then delegate-general from 1995 à 1997.
From 1993 to 1995, he was an aide to François Léotard,
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...
in the government of then prime minister
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...
. Within this role, he participated in the negotiation of an important sale of two anti-air
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
by a company affiliated with the Ministry; the contract, for approximately 19 billion
French franc
The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
s, was signed on 19 November 1994. There were suspicions that this contract generated massive kickbacks for the funding of the Republican Party and, as a consequence, a complex judicial enquiry was started. Finally, on 16 February 2004, the correctional court of Paris convicted Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres of
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...
. In March 2001, he was the right-wing candidate in the municipal election in
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
in March 2001, but he was beaten by the outgoing PS mayor, Jean Germain.
From 1997 to 2002 he was deputy 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 ...
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...
, from the UDF center-right party.
In 1999, he voted against the PACS, a domestic partnership law aimed at enabling homosexuals to form legal couples.
During the 2002 presidential election, he distanced himself from the UDF leader
François Bayrou
François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
and supported
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
's reelection bid. At the ensuing legislative election, he was reelected deputy.
On 7 May 2002, he was appointed delegate minister for
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
affairs in the government of
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 ...
, a position that he quit in the 16 June cabinet reshuffle as a result of the announcement of the aforementioned criminal investigation in the financial affairs of the Republican Party. He became deputy secretary general of the UMP party, the party supporting Jacques Chirac, then spokesperson in 2003.
Despite his 16 February 2004, conviction, he was, on 31 March, appointed Minister of Culture and communication in the third cabinet of prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, and was kept at this position on 2 June 2005, for the government of
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac.
In his career working at the Minist ...
.
In 2005, he rose to fame by defending the controversial
DADVSI
Loi DADVSI (generally pronounced as ''dadsi'') is the abbreviation of the French ''Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l’information'' (in English: "law on authors' rights and related rights in the infor ...
copyright bill before the French parliament, resulting in a variety of criticism against him from both the opposition and members of his own party. On this occasion, president 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 repre ...
Jean-Louis Debré
Jean-Louis Debré (; born 30 September 1944) is a former French judge and politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and President of the Constitutional Council from 2007 to 2016.Google bombing mapping ''ministre blanchisseur'' ("laundering minister") to a press article about his conviction.
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres ran unsuccessfully in the 2007 legislative elections.Election results for Indre-et-Loire, 1st constituency French Ministry of the Interior
Governmental functions
Minister for European affairs : May–June 2002.
Minister of Culture and Communication : 2004-2007.
Electoral mandates
''National Assembly of France''
Member of the
National Assembly of France
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
for
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...
: 1997-2002 (Became minister in 2002) / 2002-2004 (Became minister in 2004). Elected in 1997, reelected in 2002.
''Regional Council''
Vice-president of the Regional Council of
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
: 1992-1998.
Regional councillor of
Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
: 1986-2001 (Resignation) : Reelected in 1992, 1998.
''Municipal Council''
Municipal councillor of
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...