Stéphane Séjourné (; born 26 March 1985) is a French politician of
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
who currently serves as
Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. He served as
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
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 ...
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 ...
between January and September 2024.
Séjourné was a
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
(MEP) in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, where he led
Renew Europe
Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...
, a
liberal pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
parliamentary
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
, from 2021 to 2024. He was an adviser to
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 ...
during his ministerial tenure and advised him during his
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 ...
campaign.
In 2022, he became general secretary of
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
.
Early life and education
Born in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
,
[Olivier Beaumont and Pauline Théveniaud (11 March 2019)]
LREM : Stéphane Séjourné, un pilote en campagne pour les européennes
''Le Parisien
''Le Parisien'' (; ) is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of ...
''. Séjourné grew up in Madrid and
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
and later did an
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
exchange program in
Granada
Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
.
[Maïa de La Baume (25 October 2021)]
Macron’s man in Brussels takes control of the liberals
''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 ...
''.
Early career
After working in the office of
Jean-Paul Huchon at the
Regional Council of Île-de-France
The Regional Council of Île-de-France () is the regional council of Île-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 ...
from 2012 to 2014, Séjourné became an adviser to
Minister of the Economy and Finance 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 ...
.
When Macron became president in the
2017 elections, Séjourné came along as a political adviser, working alongside
Alexis Kohler and
Ismaël Emelien.
[Nathalie Segaunes (21 July 2017)]
Pépinières: la «bande de Poitiers», du MJS à l’Assemblée nationale
'' L'Opinion''. He then took a six-month-long
leave of absence
The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they ar ...
to lead LREM’s campaign for the 2019 European elections.
Political career
Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2024
Since entering parliament, Séjourné has been serving on the
Committee on Legal Affairs
The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...
(2019–2022), the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (2020–2022) and the
Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (since 2022).
In addition to his committee assignments, Séjourné is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with
Mercosur
The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...
and the
Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital, the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights, the
MEPs Against Cancer group and the European Internet Forum.
Following the resignation of
Dacian Cioloş
Dacian may refer to:
Relating to "Dacia"
* of or relating to Dacia in southeastern Europe
** Dacians, the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia
** Dacian language
* of or relating to one of the other meanings of Dacia
...
in 2021, Séjourné announced his candidacy for the leadership of the
Renew Europe
Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...
group in the European Parliament.
In May 2022, Séjourné – together with
Patrick Mignola for the
Democratic Movement (MoDem) and
Gilles Boyer
Gilles Boyer (born 4 July 1971) is a French politician of the Horizons party. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and was re-elected in 2024.
Early life and education
Born to two university professors, Boyer spent h ...
for
Horizons – negotiated the agreement leading to the creation of
Ensemble, a coalition of the parties forming the presidential majority, including on the financial distribution between them.
At the September 2022 convention of Renaissance, Séjourné was the only candidate in the running to succeed the party’s chair
Stanislas Guerini and was elected as new leader.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2024
On 11 January 2024, Séjourné was appointed minister of Europe and foreign affairs in
Gabriel Attal's government. His first official trip abroad was to Germany for a meeting with his 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 ...
. Séjourné criticized South Africa's
ICJ genocide case against Israel, saying "To accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold."
The same year, Séjourné stood for election in
Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency, taking a 46 percent plurality in the initial round, and was elected with 72.6 percent in the runoff.
European Commission, 2024–2029
Following
Thierry Breton
Thierry Breton (; born 15 January 1955) is a French-Senegalese business executive, politician, writer and former Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union from 2019 to 2024. Breton was vice-chairman and CEO of Groupe Bull (1996–19 ...
's resignation, Séjourné was announced as the next candidate for the French post in 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 ...
. As
commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...
in charge of the bloc’s industrial policy he is opting for offensive EU strategies.
Political positions
Séjourné is considered a close ally of 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 ...
.
In an article published by ''
Le Journal du Dimanche'' in February 2021, Séjourné opposed the proposed
Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).
On 12 November 2023, he took part in the ''
March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism'' in Paris in response to the
rise of anti-Semitism in France since the start of the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
.
In 2024, Séjourné committed not to work with the far-right in the next European Parliament and refused to align with the nationalist
European Conservatives and Reformists European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to:
*European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party
*European Conservatives and Reformists Group
The European Conservatives and Reformists ...
(ECR) group.
Personal life
Séjourné is gay and was in a
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...
(PACS) with
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 ...
,
a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France in 2024. The relationship had ended by 2022. He has stated that he has suffered from very severe
dyslexia
Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
since youth.
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Séjourné, Stéphane
1985 births
Living people
21st-century French LGBTQ people
Foreign ministers of France
French gay politicians
LGBTQ legislators in France
LGBTQ MEPs for France
Members of the Attal government
MEPs for France 2019–2024
People from Versailles
Renaissance (French political party) MEPs
Renaissance (French political party) politicians
University of Poitiers alumni
Politicians with dyslexia
European commissioners (2024–2029)
French European commissioners