Dominique Riquet (born 18 September 1946 in Valenciennes, Nord) is a French surgeon and politician of the Radical Party 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 ...

(MEP) since the 2009 European election, representing the North-West constituency. From 2002 until 2012, he was also the

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 ...

of Valenciennes.

Political career

In 2009, 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) selected him to lead the party's list in the North-West constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. His list won 24.22% and he was easily elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. In his first parliamentary term from 2009 until 2014, Riquet was a member of the

European People's Party group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEP ...

. Following the 2014 elections, he moved to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group; from 2017 until 2019, he was one of the group's vice-chairs under the leadership of chairman Guy Verhofstadt. Riquet has been serving on the

Committee on Transport and Tourism The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair is the French MEP Karima Delli of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. Research service The Committee is directly supported by ...

since 2012; in this capacity, he notably co-led the negotiations on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the Parliament. From 2009 until 2014, he was also a member of the Committee on Budgets. In addition, he was part of the 2016/2017 inquiry into whether the EU should have acted more quickly to address the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Since the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in coun ...

, Riquet has been serving as one of eight vice chairs of the Renew Europe group, under the leadership of chairman

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Agriculture Minister under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu between October 2007 and ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, Riquet chairs the European Parliament Intergroup on Long Term Investment and Reindustrialisation and is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, and the MEPs Against Cancer group.

Political positions

In a joint letter with 15 other MEPs from various political groups, Riquet urged the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served ...

in early 2021 to replace the European Union's ambassador to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

for allegedly siding with the country's Communist leadership.Hans von der Burchard (February 25, 2021)
MEPs urge EU to fire ambassador to Cuba
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

References

1946 births Living people People from Valenciennes Radical Party (France) politicians MEPs for North-West France 2009–2014 MEPs for North-West France 2014–2019 MEPs for France 2019–2024 Radical Party (France) MEPs Mayors of places in Hauts-de-France Union for a Popular Movement politicians Union of Democrats and Independents politicians French surgeons {{France-MEP-stub