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Jean-Noël Barrot (; born 13 May 1983) is a French-Swiss politician of the
Democratic Movement Democratic Movement may refer to: *Brazilian Democratic Movement *Democratic Movement (France) *Democratic Movement (Israel) *Democratic Movement (Italy) *Democratic Italian Movement *Democratic Movement (San Marino) *Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzst ...
(MoDem) who has been serving as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the successive governments 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 ...
s
Michel Barnier Michel Jean Barnier (; born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who was Prime Minister of France from September to December 2024. A member of a series of Gaullist parties ( UDR, RPR, UMP, LR), Barnier has served in several French cabinet p ...
and
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...
since 21 September 2024. He previously served as Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of
Élisabeth Borne Élisabeth Borne (; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from May 2022 to January 2024. A member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance (French political party), Renaissance, she is the secon ...
from 2022 to 2024 and Minister Delegate for European Affairs in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of
Gabriel Attal Gabriel Nissim Attal de Couriss (; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician who was the prime minister of France from January to September 2024. He was the youngest and the first openly Gay man, gay prime minister in French history. A member ...
in 2024.Peter O’Brien (4 July 2022)
Macron braces for tough second term with Cabinet reshuffle
''
Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...
''.
Alexandre Piquard and Vincent Fagot (4 July 2022)
Remaniement : le numérique confié au député du MoDem Jean-Noël Barrot, peu connu pour son action dans le secteur
''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
''.
An academic by occupation, Barrot was elected to represent the 2nd constituency of the
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.department 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 repr ...
in
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
with the support of
La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...
(LREM), prior to joining the government. In 2024, he was elected president of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs, a position he held until his appointment as Foreign Minister.


Early life and career

Barrot was born in the
7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is known for being, along with the 16th arrondissement and the ''commune'' of Neuilly-sur-Sein ...
, the son of politician Jacques Barrot (1937–2014), who served as a Christian-democratic government minister, European commissioner, as well as a member of the Constitutional Council until his death. His sister Hélène Barrot worked as director of communications for
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...
in Europe. Barrot followed a ''classe préparatoire'' at the
Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV () is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more ...
, and graduated from
HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...
in 2007 (''
grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...
'' master's programme) and 2013 (PhD). He also graduated with master's degrees from
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 ...
and the
Paris School of Economics The Paris School of Economics (PSE; French: ''École d'économie de Paris'') is a French research institute in the field of economics. It offers MPhil, MSc, and PhD level programmes in various fields of theoretical and applied economics, incl ...
, both in 2008. In 2013, Barrot became a research affiliate at the
Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs ...
at the
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
. In 2017, he became an assistant professor at
HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...
.


Political career


Career in local politics

Barrot served in the Departmental Council of
Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Canta ...
for the canton of Yssingeaux from
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
until his resignation in 2017, a position his father had held until 2004. In the 2021 regional election, he was elected to the
Regional Council of ÃŽle-de-France The Regional Council of ÃŽle-de-France () is the regional council of ÃŽle-de-France, France's most populous administrative region. Made up of 209 regional councillors elected for 6 years, it is headquartered in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just north ...
on the
La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...
list led by Laurent Saint-Martin.


Member of Parliament (2017–2022)

In the 2017 legislative election, Barrot was elected 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 repr ...
in the 2nd constituency of
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.deputy
Pascal Thévenot Pascal Thévenot (born 3 June 1966) is a French politician who was the Republican Member of Parliament for Yvelines's 2nd constituency from 2016 to 2017. References 1966 births Living people Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of ...
of The Republicans with 58.3% of the second-round vote. In Parliament, he served as a vice president of the Committee on Finance. He co-authored with Bénédicte Peyrol draft legislation in 2018 to combat large-scale tax evasion and avoidance schemes through
dividend stripping Dividend stripping is the practice of buying shares a short period before a dividend is declared, called cum-dividend, and then selling them when they go ex-dividend, when the previous owner is entitled to the dividend. On the day the company trade ...
in the wake of the CumEx Files revelations. In addition to his committee assignments, Barrot was a member of the French-Uruguayan parliamentary friendship group. In late 2017, Barrot was appointed by President of the National Assembly
François de Rugy François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
to chair a ten-member working group on reforming the National Assembly. The group submitted two reports, in 2017 and 2018, respectively. From February 2018, Barrot served as a Democratic Movement spokesperson, in tandem with Sarah El Haïry. He eventually succeeded Yann Wehrling as Secretary General of the Democratic Movement in December 2018, serving until July 2022 under the leadership of party president
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...
.


Minister for Digital Transition and Telecommunications (2022–2024)

In July 2022, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
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 ...
Élisabeth Borne Élisabeth Borne (; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from May 2022 to January 2024. A member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance (French political party), Renaissance, she is the secon ...
. He won a by-election in October 2022, triggered by the resignation of his substitute Anne Grignon—who had been representing him in the National Assembly after he joined the government—due to a legal incompatibility related to her eligibility. In 2023, he criticized
ChatGPT ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022. It uses large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4o as well as other Multimodal learning, multimodal models to create human-like re ...
and accused the service of not respecting
privacy law Privacy law is a set of regulations that govern the collection, storage, and utilization of personal information from healthcare, governments, companies, public or private entities, or individuals. Privacy laws are examined in relation to an ind ...
. However, he also stated being opposed to efforts to ban the service.


Minister Delegate for European Affairs (2024)

In February 2024, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for European Affairs under Foreign Minister
Stéphane Séjourné Stéphane Séjourné (; born 26 March 1985) is a French politician of Renaissance who currently serves as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. He served as Minister for Europe and Foreign ...
in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of Prime Minister
Gabriel Attal Gabriel Nissim Attal de Couriss (; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician who was the prime minister of France from January to September 2024. He was the youngest and the first openly Gay man, gay prime minister in French history. A member ...
. After being reelected in the 2024 snap legislative election, he was elected chair of the
Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to: * Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development * Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade * Foreign Affairs Committee of t ...
while serving as the caretaker Minister Delegate for European Affairs.


Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2024–current)

Barrot was appointed Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of Prime Minister
Michel Barnier Michel Jean Barnier (; born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who was Prime Minister of France from September to December 2024. A member of a series of Gaullist parties ( UDR, RPR, UMP, LR), Barnier has served in several French cabinet p ...
on 21 September 2024, succeeding Séjourné, who had been proposed as France's new European Commissioner in Brussels by President
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 ...
, within the
Von der Leyen Commission II The second von der Leyen Commission is the current European Commission, in office since 1 December 2024. It consists of one commissioner from each of the member states of the European Union – including Ursula von der Leyen, its President of t ...
. He was retained by
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...
when he succeeded Barnier as prime minister. On 29 September, Barrot traveled to Lebanon, two days prior to the start of the Israeli invasion of the country, stating France "stands with Lebanon", as the country was being pulled into a war "it did not choose". On 8 October, he called Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
's rhetoric on the matter a "provocation". In January 2025, Barrot and his German counterpart
Annalena Baerbock Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock (; born 15 December 1980) is a German politician and diplomat of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. She served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Germany's minister for foreign affairs from 2021 to 2025. I ...
visited Damascus to meet Syria's ''de facto'' new leader
Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...
on behalf of the European Union, thereby becoming the first ministers from the EU to visit the country since the
fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...
. In February 2025 Barrot urged
G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...
states to show unambivalent support for the international rules-based order, including the sovereignty of Ukraine. Barrot said the real line of geopolitical division was not between north and south but between those who supported the international rules-based order and those who did not.


Political positions

In June 2020, Barrot together with fellow party member Patrick Mignola proposed a law to introduce mail-in voting to facilitate voting during the public health crisis caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. T ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrot, Jean-Noel 1983 births Living people Democratic Movement (France) politicians Members of Parliament for Yvelines Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 17th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Politicians from Paris Lycée Henri-IV alumni HEC Paris alumni Sciences Po alumni Paris School of Economics alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology staff French economists Departmental councillors (France) Members of the Regional Council of Île-de-France Members of the Borne government Members of the Attal government Members of the Barnier government