Marielle de Sarnez
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Marielle de Sarnez (; 27 March 195113 January 2021) was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for European Affairs under
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 i ...
Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 ...
. A member of the
Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to ...
(UDF) until 2008 when she joined the Democratic Movement (MoDem), de Sarnez 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 ...
(MEP) from 1999 until her appointment as Minister for European Affairs in the Phillipe government in 2017. De Sarnez resigned after a month due to a scandal involving alleged payment for work she did not perform, but was elected a few days later to represent the 11th constituency of
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 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 ...
. She was a committed Europeanist and centrist, pushing the MoDem to resist currents on each end of the political spectrum. De Sarnez was a longtime collaborator to party president and three-time candidate for the presidency of France, François Bayrou.


Early life

Marielle de Sarnez was born in the 8th arrondissement of Paris on 27 March 1951 and grew up in a family with close ties to the French political establishment. From 1961 to 1967, her
Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
father Olivier de Sarnez, who had been in the
French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, was chief of staff to
Roger Frey Roger Frey (11 June 1913, Nouméa, New Caledonia – 13 September 1997) was a French politician. His parents were of Alsatian origin. He was Minister of the Interior and president of the Constitutional Council of France. Political career In 19 ...
, Interior Minister, and her mother was responsible for floral arrangements at the Élysée Palace. Nevertheless de Sarnez joined the
May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) * CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. * RAF Strike ...
protests while still a high school student, was kicked out of
Lycée Sainte-Marie de Passy In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
Catholic girls school and participated in the occupation of neighboring boys school Lycée Jean-Baptiste Say. (Her father was elected as a 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 rep ...
on the Gaullist conservative
Union of Democrats for the Republic The Union for the Defence of the Republic (french: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (french: Union des Démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist p ...
—UDR—ticket a month later.) After earning her baccalaureate from Lycée La Fontaine, de Sarnez began working in retail.


Career


Early career

In 1973, Ladislas Wroblewski, who cofounded the Independent Republicans (RI) party with
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
, offered de Sarnez a part-time role as secretary of the Young RI arm. At RI, she met
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 ...
, who went on to become
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 i ...
;
Dominique Bussereau Dominique Bussereau (born 13 July 1952) is a French politician. He is president of the departmental council of Charente-Maritime since 2008 and president of the since 2015. He was Secretary of State for Transport within the government of ...
, who became president of the ; and eventual Minister of Justice
Pascal Clément Pascal Clément (12 May 1945 – 21 June 2020) was a French politician, member of the UMP. He was a member of the National Assembly of France for the sixth district, encompassing the Loire. He served as Minister of Parliamentary Relations f ...
. She was involved in the
Presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
the next year, creating popular "Giscard à la barre" ("Giscard at the helm”) t-shirts. Giscard d'Estaing was elected and de Sarnez rose quickly through the ranks. Later de Sarnez grew disappointed by the rightward turn, especially the anti-abortion politics, that the new administration adopted, and wished Giscard d'Estaing had taken the opportunity to break from the right-wing UDR (predecessor to the Rally for the Republic, RPR) and form a majority government without them. Failure to do so, she later said, left the Giscardians "hostages" to the right.
Simone Veil Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate and politician who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman to hold that office. ...
offered de Sarnez a slot on her list for the European elections in 1979 (when Veil became president of 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 ...
). De Sarnez, who had a ten-month-old daughter and a son on the way, declined at that time, later saying she was glad to have waited for a more compatible political partner. Giscard d'Estaing was defeated in the
1981 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 26 April 1981, with a second round on 10 May. François Mitterrand defeated incumbent president, Valery Giscard d'Estaing to become the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic. In the first ...
. De Sarnez later said that despite personal disappointment, she did not entirely regret the political changes brought by President François Mitterrand, of the Socialist Party (PS).


Work with François Bayrou

In 1978, de Sarnez co-founded the
Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to ...
(UDF), aimed at developing a center-right coalition to back Giscard d'Estaing and provide a counterweight to the Gaullist right. From 1986 to 1989, she served as special advisor to the chair of the UDF group in 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 ...
, Jean-Claude Gaudin. In this milieu she met François Bayrou, with whom she worked closely for the next 40 years. The two became close working on
Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...
's campaign for President in 1988 and were soon inseparable. "Elle, c'est moi, et moi, c'est elle" ("I'm her and she is me") he told those who occasionally tried to drive a wedge between them. When Bayrou became Secretary General of the UDF in 1989, she joined him as his deputy, then likewise at the Ministry of National Education (1993 to 1997) in the government of
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 ...
. Initially she was an adviser, but then became Director of his Private Office, the first French woman to hold such a senior role without a degree from 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 1997 to 1998, she was the secretary-general of the UDF group in the National Assembly. After the
Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...
won the 1997 legislative elections, in 1989 through 1993 de Sarnez became Secretary-General of the opposition general assembly, while Bayrou was President of UDF. She went on to become national secretary of the UDF, from 2003 to 2007. De Sarnez, who earned a reputation as an outstanding organizer—Raffarin described her as a "gifted politician"—also served as campaign manager for Bayrou's 2007 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Each time, Bayrou, a center-right candidate running under the UDF banner, failed to advance to the second (final) round. In 2002, they earned 6.84% of the first-round vote, a fourth-place finish while the neo-Gaullist right-wing (RPR) and extreme-right (National Front, FN) candidates Jacques Chirac and
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
, respectively, advanced. Along with much of the political establishment, Bayrou threw his support behind Chirac. In 2007, it was 18.57% ( Nicolas Sarkozy, a right-wing candidate then running with 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) and Socialist Party (PS) candidate
Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...
advanced) and 9.13% in 2012 (Sarkozy and PS candidate François Hollande advanced). The 2007 election loss nevertheless marked a significant turning point, as Bayrou announced publicly he would not vote for Sarkozy, breaking from the dominant right-wing UMP to form the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem). De Sarnez became its First Vice-President. The UMP's successor the Republicans (LR) blamed Bayrou (and retaliated) for Sarkozy's loss and a number of UDF members split to create the
New Centre The Centrists (french: Les Centristes, LC), formerly known as New Centre (''Nouveau Centre'', NC) and European Social Liberal Party (''Parti Social Libéral Européen'', PSLE), is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of ...
party to support Sarkozy, leaving only three MoDem deputies in the National Assembly, including Bayrou, not enough to form their own group in the legislature. Ex-comrades accused de Sarnez of having creating a vacuum around Bayrou. A 2007 profile in ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' describes de Sarnez's role with Bayrou: "Nothing is done without her consent." In the 2016 presidential primary held by LR, de Sarnez endorsed
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 ...
over Sarkozy, but both lost in a surprise upset by
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 ...
. Bayrou, in consultation with de Sarnez, decided not to run in the
2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of La République En Marche!, En Ma ...
and they both instead supported Emmanuel Macron of La République En Marche! as an alternative centrist candidate, ultimately successful.


Role in Europe

While de Sarnez made her name as "the woman who made Bayrou", he also encouraged her to strike out as a candidate herself, insisting, "She's not a number two. She's a number one." Devoted to the cause of a unified Europe, she began her elected career in 1999 as a member of 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 ...
(MEP) for
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 ...
, heading the UDF list in 2004 and serving until 2017. A member of the UDF before 2008 and
MoDem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
after 2008, de Sarnez served as vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and sat on 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 ...
's
Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...
. She was in the forefront for
Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, and it inspired the choice to make orange the signature color of MoDem. She also took a particular interest in the EU's
Erasmus Mundus The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme (named after Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar) aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarships and academic co-operation between the EU and the rest of the world. The three main objecti ...
, expanding on the popular Erasmus program to create opportunities for students outside Europe to study in its universities as well. In the contentious on ratifying the
European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
, de Sarnez supported ratification. Although the measure failed, de Sarnez praised the "democratic moment" of the entire nation reading and debating the text. In 2009, she published a short book called ''Petit dictionnaire pour faire aimer l'Europe'' (''A Brief Dictionary for Loving Europe''). The book covers 80-odd subjects in 250 pages, appealing to a vision of Europe that centers equity in its relationship with the rest of the world. De Sarnez was a substitute for the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of the delegation for relations with
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and a substitute for the delegation to the EU
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
Joint Parliamentary Committee. In 2016, she served as the parliament's
rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...
on a plan to lend
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
€500 million on favourable terms to help it reduce its external debt and consolidate its democratic mechanisms. In addition to her committee assignments, de Sarnez was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children's Rights. In May 2017, de Sarnez left the European Parliament upon her appointment as French Minister for European Affairs. Reporting from ''
Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...
'' shortly thereafter alleged that de Sarnez had been paid for work she had not actually done, embroiling her and Bayrou in a jobs scandal. Prosecutors opened an investigation into whether assistants to de Sarnez as an MEP had actually been paid for work done for the MoDem party in Paris. Both she and Bayrou (the new
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 ...
) resigned, just before the 2017 legislative election in which de Sarnez was a candidate with Emmanuel Macron's newly formed party, La République En Marche! Prime Minister
Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 ...
announced that Bayrou would not be a part of the government. On 21 June 2017, Nathalie Loiseau succeeded de Sarnez as the minister for European affairs.


Representative of Paris

Despite the timing of the scandal, de Sarnez, who was also a councillor (joint RPR-UDF slate) for the
14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...
from 2001 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2020, was elected 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 rep ...
for the 11th constituency of Paris on 18 June 2017. She became chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, serving in that capacity from 2017 to 2021. On 31 May 2019, she led a delegation of the committee on a visit to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the
Syrian Democratic Council The Syrian Democratic Council ( ku, Meclîsa Sûriya Demokratîk, MSD; ar, مجلس سوريا الديمقراطية; syc, ܡܘܬܒܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܛܝܬܐ, translit=Mawtbo d'Suriya Demoqraṭoyto) is the political wing of the Syri ...
in
Ayn Issa Ayn Issa ( ar, عين عيسى, also spelled Ain Issa. Meaning ''Spring of Jesus'') is a town in the Tell Abyad District of Raqqa Governorate in Syria. It is located halfway between the Syria–Turkey border town of Tell Abyad and the regional cap ...
. After de Sarnez’s death in 2021, she was succeeded as deputy by Maud Gatel.


Personal life

De Sarnez married Philippe Augier (later Mayor of
Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...
) and had two children, circa 1979. She separated from Augier in 1988. A private person, de Sarnez kept a small circle of friends and strictly enforced her preference that her personal life stay out of the media spotlight. She was known for her uniform of jeans and
Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...
sneakers. De Sarnez died of
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (french: Hôpital universitaire la Pitié-Salpêtrière, ) is a teaching hospital in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Part of the and a teaching hospital of Sorbonne University. History The Salpêtri ...
in Paris on 13 January 2021, at age 69. French leaders across the political spectrum sent public messages mourning her death, including President Macron and his rivals in the 2017 election, extreme-right FN candidate Marine Le Pen and hard left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon; as well as current Prime Minister
Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served f ...
and de Sarnez's longtime professional partner Bayrou. The National Assembly observed a minute of silence and ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' wrote, "One of the pillars of the house of centrism has fallen."


Works

*


References


External links


Declaration of financial interests
( PDF file) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarnez, Marielle de 1951 births 2021 deaths 20th-century French women politicians 20th-century women MEPs for France 21st-century French women politicians 21st-century women MEPs for France Councillors of Paris Deaths from cancer in France Deaths from leukemia Democratic Movement (France) MEPs Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic MEPs for France 1999–2004 MEPs for Île-de-France 2004–2009 MEPs for Île-de-France 2009–2014 MEPs for Île-de-France 2014–2019 Politicians from Paris Union for French Democracy MEPs Women government ministers of France Women members of the National Assembly (France)