François Claude Pierre René Baroin (; born 21 June 1965) is a French politician and lawyer who served as

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

from 2011 to 2012, following a stint as Budget Minister in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired 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 ...

. A member of The Republicans (LR), he was a long-time ally of

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

and has been

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

since 1995.

Early life and education

Baroin was born in the

12th arrondissement of Paris The 12th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. Situated on the right bank of the River Seine, it is the easternmost arrondissement of Paris, as well as the largest by area ...

to an upper-class family. His father Michel Baroin was a student friend of Chirac's who went on to become a leading freemason, chairman of retailer

Fnac Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

and the insurer GMF, and a powerful local politician. Baroin studied at

Collège Stanislas de Paris The Collège Stanislas de Paris (), colloquially known as Stan, is a private Catholic school in Paris, situated on " Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs" in the 6th arrondissement. It has more than 3,000 students, from preschool to '' classes préparatoir ...

before moving to ISG Business School and Panthéon-Assas University.

Early career

Baroin started his career as a political correspondent for ''

Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...

'' from 1988 until 1992.

Political career

In 1992, at Chirac's behest, Baroin joined his party

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

(RPR). He became a member 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 repr ...

in the 1993 elections – where he served on the Committee on Legal Affairs – and the mayor of Troyes, a mid-sized city South-East of Paris, two years later. Baroin was appointed Chirac's campaign spokesman in the

1995 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April, with a second round on 7 May. Background The Socialist incumbent president François Mitterrand, who had been in office since 1981, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had termi ...

. Following the elections, he became first state secretary and government spokesman under

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

and then, after a reshuffle, a political aide to the president. Returning to parliament, Baroin was a member of the National Assembly's Finance Committee (1997-2001), the Committee on Cultural Affairs (2001-2002) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2002-2005). He also served as the Assembly's vice-president between 2002 and 2005. In the government led by

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 Ministry ...

, Baroin served as Minister for Overseas Territories from June 2005 to March 2007 and was briefly

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from March to May 2007. He replaced

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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

on 26 March 2007 as Interior Minister when Sarkozy left the Government to pursue his presidential candidacy. During his time as Minister of the Budget in the government of

from 2010 until 2011, Baroin successfully managed controversial dossiers such as wealth tax reform, the reduction of civil servants and the abolition of Sarkozy's controversial tax cap for the rich. On 29 June 2011, Baroin was appointed Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry in Fillon's cabinet, replacing

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; , ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been the President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th Managing Director of the International Monetar ...

following her appointment as Director General of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. At the time, he was one of three candidates discussed for the role, alongside

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician, writer, and former diplomat who served as Economy and Finance Minister from 2017 to 2024 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in ...

and

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Anne Émilie Pécresse (; Birth name, née Roux ; 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has been the President of the Regional Council (France), President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republic ...

. The appointment was seen as a tribute to Baroin's presumed ability to sell austerity to the French public and to unpick the economic policy of the opposition

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. During his brief time in office, he chaired the meetings of the

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, formed by incorporating Russia into the G7. The G8 became the G7 again after Russia was expelled in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The forum ...

ministers of finance when France held the group's presidency in 2011. From 2014, Baroin served as president of the France's Mayors Organization (''Association des Maires de France''), a powerful organization for more than 36,000 mayors in France. Ahead of the

2017 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...

, Baroin played a central role in the campaign of

. After Fillon was eliminated in the first round of voting, Baroin declared that he would vote for

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

in the runoff election and that he would be available as prime minister in a

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

; however, Macron eventually chose

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 202 ...

for the post.

Career in the private sector

In 2018, Baroin joined the French investment banking business of

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

as an external senior advisor. When Christian Jacob was elected chairman of the Republicans in 2019, he appointed Baroin as strategic advisor. In 2020, Baroin was mentioned by news media as potential candidate for the

2022 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. ...

; however, he declared in October 2020 that he would not run for president. Ahead of the Republicans' 2022 convention, Baroin endorsed

Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti ( or , ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who led The Republicans (LR) from 2022 to 2024. He has represented Alpes-Maritimes's 1st constituency in the National Assembly since the 2007 legislative election. Once a m ...

as the party's chairman.

Other activities

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011-2012)

Wiretapping by NSA

In 2015,

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency wiretapped Baroin's communication during his time as Minister of Finance.

Personal life

Baroin married fellow journalist Valérie Broquisse in 1991 and they have three children. Following their divorce, he was the partner of the journalist

Marie Drucker Marie Drucker (born 3 December 1974) is a French journalist, author, television and radio personality. Early life The daughter of Jean Drucker, a French television executive, and a niece of Michel Drucker, a television journalist, she was educat ...

until they separated in 2008. In 2009, he was linked with

Michèle Laroque Michèle Laroque (; born 15 June 1960) is a French actress, comedienne, humorist, film producer, producer and screenwriter. Early life Michèle Laroque was born in Nice in the department of Alpes-Maritimes. She is the daughter of Romanian danc ...

Overview

Governmental functions Ministre of Economy, Finance and Industry : 2011–2012. Government's Spokesman : 2010–2011. Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform : 2010–2011. Minister of Interior : March–May 2007. Minister of Overseas Territories : 2005–2007. Government's spokesman : May–November 1995. Electoral mandates ''Senate'' Senator for

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

: since 2014. ''National Assembly of France'' Vice-president of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

: 2002–2005 Member of the

for

(3rd constituency) : 1993–1995 (Became government's spokesman in 1995) / 1997–2005 (Became minister in 2005) / 2007–2010 (Became minister in 2010) / 2012-2014 (elected as a senator). Elected in 1993, reelected in 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of

: Since 1995. Reelected in 2001, 2008, 2014. Municipal councillor of

: Since 1995. Reelected in 2001, 2008, 2014. ''Agglomeration community Council'' President of the Agglomeration community of

: Since 2001. Reelected in 2008, 2014. Member of the Agglomeration community of

: Since 2001. Reelected in 2008, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroin, Francois 1965 births French interior ministers French lawyers Finance ministers of France Government spokespersons of France ISG Business School alumni Living people Mayors of places in Grand Est People from Troyes Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Politicians from Paris Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians Academic staff of HEC Paris Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Senators of Aube