After finishing his studies at the Athénée Royal in Charleroi in 1982, Chastel graduated in Pharmacy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1987. For some years, he subsequently worked as a research assistant at the Analytical Chemistry Department at the Pharmacy Institute (ULB). He was a scientific collaborator of the Analysis Laboratory Quality Assistance in Thuin, where he once was head of department and became a specialist in Quality Assurance.
Political career
Early beginnings
In 1998, Chastel scaled back his professional activities and became involved with local politics, combining this new challenge with his passion for tennis and for breeding the Flanders Cattle Dog "Bouvier des Flandres".
Since 1993, Chastel has been a city councillor in Charleroi and in 1998, he joined the Parliament of Wallonia, in substitution for Étienne Knoops.
Member of the Belgian Parliament, 1999–2019
A few months later, Chastel headed the liberal list for the Chamber of Representatives in the Charleroi – Thuin district. In the 1999 Belgian federal election, he obtained 12,000 votes and started his federal career. During his time in parliament, he served on the Committee on Infrastructure and in the SABENA inquiry. As the president of the Petitions Commission, he supported the tasks of the Federal Ombudsmen, charged with the simplification of the relations between the authorities and citizens. In the 2003 elections, Chastel obtained 22,133 preferential votes in the canton of Hainaut and became vice-president of the Chamber of Representatives.
From February until July 2004, Chastel briefly held the position of minister of arts, literature and audiovisual matters in the French Community of Belgium.
On the city level, Chastel obtained more than 17,000 votes in the 2006 local elections.
In the 2007 Belgian federal election, Chastel also headed the list for the Chamber of Representatives for the canton of Hainaut. At this occasion, the MR obtained 199,859 votes in the canton of Hainaut, which was a gain of 40,000 votes compared to 2003. The votes increased by 5% and 27%, which is the largest score the MR had ever reached in the Hainaut. But these exceptional results also allowed the MR to win a sixth seat in the Chamber of Representatives. Chastel, for his part, tripled his score of 2003. With his 67,180 preferential votes, he obtained the second best score for the MR in the Chamber.
In addition to his committee assignments, Chastel is part of the Parliament’s delegations for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union as well as to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.[3] He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital,[4] the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights,[5] the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights,[6] the European Parliament Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs),[7] and the Spinelli Group.[8]
Overview
1988–1993: acting city councillor in Charleroi
Since 1993: city councillor in Charleroi
December 2006 - May 2007: 1st alderman in Charleroi (economics, work, markets and social economy).
1991–1995: acting representative for Daniel DUCARME (Chamber – Charleroi district)
1998–1999: representative for the French Community and the Walloon Parliament (Charleroi district)
1999 - June 2003: federal representative (Charleroi – Thuin district)
June 2003 - February 2004: federal representative (Hainaut), vice-president of the Chamber of Representatives
February 2004 - July 2004: minister of arts, literature and audiovisual matters in the French community government Wallonia-Brussels
July 2004 - March 2008: federal representative (Hainaut), vice-president of the Chamber of Representatives, and of the Commission: Infrastructure, Communications and Public Enterprises
March 2008: state secretary for European affairs
Since February 2011: minister of development cooperation, charged with European Affairs
Recognition
Knight in the Order of Leopold since June 2007 (A.R. 05-06-2007)
