François Zocchetto (born 14 December 1958) is French lawyer and politician who served as a member of the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

from 2001 until 2017, representing the

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and I ...

department. He is a member of the

Centrist Alliance The Centrist Alliance (french: Alliance centriste) (AC) is a centrist political party in France. It was founded in June 2009 by Jean Arthuis, a former member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and currently Member of European parliament, ...

and caucuses with the

Centrist Union The Centrist Union group (french: groupe Union centriste, abbreviated UC) is a centrist parliamentary group in the Senate uniting members of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) and Democratic Movement (MoDem), as well as the Centrist A ...

. In 2019, he joined independent

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés in Paris as a partner.

Career in the private sector

A chartered accountant, Zocchetto began his private career with an audit/accounting and statutory auditor firm, and then founded in 1987 a law firm in business law for

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SMEs) located in Paris and Western France.

Political career

In the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territories) to elect the President of France (who is a ...

, Zocchetto supported

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 ...

before endorsing

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 ...

in the election's second round. In 2013,

Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...

of the

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a centre to centre-right political party in France and former electoral alliance founded on 18 September 2012 on the basis of the parliamentary grou ...

(UDI) included Zocchetto in his shadow cabinet; in this capacity, he served as opposition counterpart to

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Christiane Taubira Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until ...

.L'UDI de Borloo se dote d'un contre-gouvernement
''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'', June 15, 2013.

References

on the Senate website
1958 births Living people Union for French Democracy politicians Democratic Movement (France) politicians Centrist Alliance politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic ESCP Europe alumni Sciences Po alumni French people of Italian descent Mayors of places in Pays de la Loire People from Laval, Mayenne Union of Democrats and Independents politicians Senators of Mayenne {{France-politician-UDI-stub