Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as

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 ...

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—including Minister of the Budget—at the same time. He also served as the 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 ...

for the 6th constituency of

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

and president of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

(UMP) group in the National Assembly. In November 2010 he became the party's secretary-general. In August 2012 he announced that he would run for the presidency of the UMP, facing the former Prime Minister François Fillon. On 19 November 2012 he was elected to the presidency of the UMP with 50.03% of votes from its members, defeating Fillon, who asserted his own victory. He resigned from the post on 27 May 2014 following an invoices scandal and poor results for the UMP at the 2014 European elections.

Personal life

Jean-François Copé was born in

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, (now

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

) the son of Professor Roland Copé, a surgeon of Romanian Jewish origin, and Monique Ghanassia, of Algerian Jewish origin. His paternal grandparents were Marcu Hirs Copelovici, a physician born in Iaşi (

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), and Gisele Lazerovici. His maternal grandparents were Ismael André Ghanassia, a lawyer in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

(son of Moïse Ghanassia and Djouhar Soussi, from Miliana, in Algeria), and Lise Boukhabza (granddaughter of a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n rabbi). Raised in a French Jewish family, he describes himself as "a non-practising Jew" ("''Juif non-pratiquant''"). He studied at the École Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel, and then at Lycée Victor Duruy, where he obtained his

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

. In 1985 he entered

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

for two years, before attending the

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

, from which he graduated in 1989. He followed training seminars on New Public Management in the United States, and he is a proponent of Benchmarking on budget matters. Divorced, he has four children, François-Xavier, Pierre-Alexis, and Raphaëlla, from his previous marriage, and Faustine, from his current union.

Career

Following his graduation in 1989, he joined the Caisse des dépôts et consignations until 1991. He then worked as head of cabinet for the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

at Dexia, while teaching Local Economy and Finance at Science-Po. He left those attributions in 1993 to get involved in the leading right-wing party at the time, the RPR. In 1997 he came back to teaching as an Associate Professor of Economy and Finance at Paris 8 University, up until 2002. He also returned to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations between 1997 and 1999, before joining the supervisory board of Dexia from 2000 to 2002.

Political functions

After serving in various political roles in the RPR and the Balladur government, he became spokesperson for the government of Prime Minister

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 under President Jacques Chirac. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Un ...

in 2002. On 24 November 2004, he became Minister of the Budget and spokesperson for the government in the Raffarin III government; he was renewed in this function in the following Villepin government. Following the 2007 parliamentary election, he became leader of the UMP parliamentary group in the 13th Legislature. In 1995, he became

at 35, and was re-elected in 2001 and 2008. Because of his nomination in the government in 2002, he had to step down in favour of Ange Anziani. Nonetheless, he took back the office in 2005 after Anziani's resignation. He was also regional councillor of Ile-de-France from 1998 to 2007 and was list leader of the UMP- UDF in Ile-de-France in the 2004 regional elections. He became deputy of the 5th constituency of

in 1995, following the nomination of the incumbent to the Juppé government. However, he was defeated in 1997 by a Socialist candidate in a difficult RPR- PS- FN three-way second round race. In 2002, he was elected in the 6th constituency. He was re-elected there by the first round in 2007, becoming President of the UMP Group in the

French National Assembly 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 ...

at the same time. In November 2010, he became General Secretary of the

. He declared himself a candidate for the presidency of the UMP in August 2012, facing François Fillon, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet and

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 ...

. He was supported by many strong UMP members, such as former Prime Minister

, UMP leader at the National Assembly Christian Jacob and former Minister of Education Luc Chatel. In September 2012, Copé denounced the development of an anti-White racism by people living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, sparking a nationwide controversy in media and politics.

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

''«Racisme anti-blanc» : Copé persiste et signe''
27 September 2012, retrieved 13 October 2012 On 19 November 2012, Copé declared himself winner of the Union for a Popular Movement leadership election with 50,03% of votes, an assertion that was contradicted by François Fillon who asserted his own victory. In the following days, the crisis amplified with a mutual accusation of fraud. On 27 February 2014 ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

'' magazine accused Copé of using a friend's company as contractor for UMP's events organisation, and overpaying it. Copé rejected the charges, accused the magazine's editor of persecution and sued him. Following UMP's poor results in the 2014 European elections and accusations linked with the Bygmalion invoices scandal, Copé was forced to resign as UMP chairman on 27 May 2014. However, Copé was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the justice. A candidate to the 2016 Republican primary, Copé ended last with only 0.3%. He supported

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 ...

against his former rival François Fillon in the second ballot. In June 2024, the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation against Copé, concerning the use of municipal vehicles for purposes beyond his duties as mayor of Meaux. This investigation followed a report from the anti-corruption association Anticor, in February 2023, for alleged acts of "embezzlement of public funds". In the Republicans' 2025 leadership election, Copé endorsed

Bruno Retailleau Bruno Daniel Marie Paul Retailleau (; born 20 November 1960) is a French politician who has served as Minister of the Interior (France), Minister of the Interior and Minister of State in the Bayrou government, as well as the preceding Barnier gov ...

to succeed Éric Ciotti as the party's new chair.Hugues Maillot (17 February 2025)
Présidence LR : «Le seul capable d’incarner le retour de l’ordre», Jean-François Copé soutient Bruno Retailleau
''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

''.

Political career

;Governmental functions *Secretary of State for Relationships with Parliament and Government's spokesman: 2002–2004. *Minister delegated to Interior and Government's spokesman: March–November 2004. *Minister of Budget, Budget Reform and Government's spokesman: 2004–2005. *Minister of Budget, State Reform and Government's spokesman: 2005–2007. ;Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

*President of the

Group in the National Assembly: 2007–2010 (Resignation). *Member 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 ...

for

(5th, then 6th constituency): 1995–1997 / Reelected in 2002, but he became secretary of State / Since 2007. Elected in 1995, reelected in 2002, 2007, 2012.

Regional Council

*Regional councillor of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

: 1998–2007 (Resignation). Reelected in 2004.

Municipal Council

*Mayor of

: 1995–2002 (Resignation) / Since 2005. Reelected in 2001, 2005, 2008. *Deputy-mayor of Meaux: 2002–2005. *Municipal councillor of Meaux: Since 1995. Reelected in 2001, 2008.

Agglomeration community Council

*Président of the

Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Meaux The Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Meaux (CAPM) is a ''communauté d'agglomération'' in the Seine-et-Marne ''departments of France, département'' and in the Île-de-France ''regions of France, région'' of France. The 4 communes of the ...

: Since 2003. Reelected in 2008. *Member of the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Meaux: Since 2003. Reelected in 2008.

Political functions

*Deputy General secretary of the

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 ...

: 2001–2002. *General Secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2010-2012. *Président of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2012-2014.

Bibliography

Books by Jean-François Copé

* 1990 : ''Finances locales'' – Economica (Reissued in 1993 (), and with François Werner in 1997 ()) * 1999 : ''Ce que je n'ai pas appris à l'ENA. L'aventure d'un maire'' – Hachette Littératures. . * 2002 : ''Devoir d'inventaire. Le dépôt de bilan de Lionel Jospin'' –

Éditions Albin Michel Éditions Albin Michel is a French publisher. In January 2019, the new President and CEO is Gilles Haéri. In January 2022, the director is Anna Pavlowitch, the daughter of Paul Pavlowitch. History It was founded in 1900 by Albin Michel. They ...

. . * 2006 : ''Promis, j'arrête la langue de bois'' – Hachette Littératures. . * 2012 : ''Manifeste pour une droite décomplexée'' - Editions Fayard.

References

External links

Webpage at the National Assembly
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Jean-Francois 1964 births Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni 20th-century French Jews French secular Jews Budget ministers of France French people of Algerian-Jewish descent French people of Romanian-Jewish descent Government spokespersons of France Jewish French politicians Living people Mayors of places in Île-de-France The Republicans (France) politicians Politicians from Boulogne-Billancourt Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Seine-et-Marne