Philippe M.P.J. Maystadt (14 March 1948 – 7 December 2017) was a Belgian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who served as Minister for Economic Affairs,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, and Deputy Prime Minister. He was President of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solution ...

(EIB) from 2000 to 2011.

Personal life and studies

Philippe Maystadt was born in Verviers (Belgium) in 1948. He obtained a PhD in Law at the Catholic University of Louvain and gained a Master of Arts in public administration at

Claremont Graduate School The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, USA. He was a part-time professor at the Law Faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain. Maystadt died on 7 December 2017 aged 69 years.

Career

Maystadt started his career as assistant professor at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. In 1977, he became a Member of the House of Representatives and was appointed Secretary of State for the Walloon Region in 1979. Between 1980 and 1988 he was successively Minister for the Civil Service and Scientific Policy, Minister for Budgetary Affairs, Scientific Policy and Planning and Minister for Economic Affairs. From 1988 to 1998, he served as Minister of Finance and was awarded, in 1990, the title "Finance Minister of the Year" by Euromoney magazine. Philippe Maystadt served twice as Deputy Prime Minister (1986–1988 and 1995–1998). Maystadt has chaired meetings of the G-10 Ministers of Finance, the EU Council of Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs, the Board of Governors of the EBRD and, for an exceptionally long term of five years, the Interim Committee of the International Monetary Fund. Maystadt's mandate as President of the EIB was renewed in 2006 for a period of six years. His other past and present appointments include: * Governor of

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially fo ...

(EBRD) * Professor at

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

(Louvain-la-Neuve) (since 1989) * Belgian

(1988–1998) * Minister for Economic Affairs (1985–1988) * Minister for the Budget, Scientific Policy and Planning (1981–1985) He supervised the entrance of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in the

Euro zone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU poli ...

. Seeking election as the President of the Christian Social Party, Maystadt's resignation as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Trade was announced on 19 June 1998. During his last term as Minister of Finance, Maystadt came under heavy criticism after it was revealed that under his responsibility the Belgian State had lost up to 571 million euros in high-risk speculative investments. This affair marked the end of his political career in Belgium. Maystadt unexpectedly died on 7 December 2017 from a respiratory disease.

Honours

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

(20 February 1986)Italian Presidency website
S.E. Philippe MAYSTADT
- Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana

External links

President, European Investment Bank (EIB)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maystadt, Philippe 1948 births 2017 deaths Centre démocrate humaniste politicians Belgian Ministers of State Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Université de Namur alumni Claremont Graduate University alumni Deaths from lung disease Presidents of the European Investment Bank Belgian officials of the European Union Finance ministers of Belgium People from Verviers