Jean-Noël Barrot

Jean-Noël Barrot
Barrot in 2023
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 September 2024
Prime MinisterMichel Barnier
Preceded byStéphane Séjourné
President of the Foreign Affairs Committee
of the National Assembly
In office
20 July 2024 – 21 September 2024
Preceded byJean-Louis Bourlanges
Succeeded byBruno Fuchs
Minister Delegate for European Affairs
In office
8 February 2024 – 21 September 2024
Prime MinisterGabriel Attal
Preceded byLaurence Boone
Succeeded byBenjamin Haddad
Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications
In office
4 July 2022 – 11 January 2024
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Preceded byCédric O
Succeeded byMarina Ferrari
Member of the National Assembly
for Yvelines's 2nd constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2024
Preceded byAnne Bergantz
In office
10 October 2022 – 9 November 2022
Preceded byAnne Grignon
Succeeded byAnne Bergantz
In office
21 June 2017 – 19 June 2022
Preceded byPascal Thévenot
Succeeded byAnne Grignon
Member of the Regional Council of Île-de-France
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 July 2021
Departmental councillor of Haute-Loire
for the canton of Yssingeaux
In office
2 April 2015 – 27 June 2017
Served with Madeleine Dubois
Preceded byMadeleine Dubois
Succeeded byGeorges Philibert
Personal details
Born (1983-05-13) 13 May 1983 (age 41)
Paris, France
Political partyDemocratic Movement
Parent(s)Jacques Barrot (father)
Florence Cattani (mother)
Alma materHEC Paris
Sciences Po
Paris School of Economics
OccupationEconomist • Politician

Jean-Noël Barrot (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ nɔɛl baʁo]; born 13 May 1983) is a French politician who has served as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier since 21 September 2024.[1] A member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), he previously served as Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne from 2022 to 2024 and Minister Delegate for European Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in 2024.[2][3][4]

An academic by occupation, Barrot was elected to represent the 2nd constituency of the Yvelines department in the National Assembly in 2017 with the support of La République En Marche! (LREM), prior to joining the government.[5][6] In 2024, he was elected president of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs,[7] a position he held until his appointment as Foreign Minister.

Early life and career

Barrot was born in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, 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 in Europe.[8]

Barrot followed a classe préparatoire at the Lycée Henri-IV, and graduated from HEC Paris in 2007 (grande école master's programme) and 2013 (PhD). He also graduated with master's degrees from Sciences Po and the Paris School of Economics, both in 2008.

In 2013, Barrot became a research affiliate at the Sloan School of Management at the MIT.[9] In 2017, he became an assistant professor at HEC Paris.[10]

Political career

Career in local politics

Barrot served in the Departmental Council of Haute-Loire for the canton of Yssingeaux from 2015 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 Île-de-France on the La République En Marche! list led by Laurent Saint-Martin.

Member of Parliament (2017–2022)

In the 2017 legislative election, Barrot was elected to the National Assembly in the 2nd constituency of Yvelines, which encompasses HEC Paris, the grande école he taught at. He defeated outgoing deputy Pascal Thévenot of The Republicans with 58.3% of the second-round vote.[11]

In Parliament, he served as a vice president of the Committee on Finance.[12] He co-authored with Bénédicte Peyrol draft legislation in 2018 to combat large-scale tax evasion and avoidance schemes through dividend stripping in the wake of the CumEx Files revelations.[13]

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 to chair a ten-member working group on reforming the National Assembly. The group submitted two reports, in 2017 and 2018, respectively.[14]

From February 2018, Barrot served as a Democratic Movement spokesperson, in tandem with Sarah El Haïry.[15] 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.[16]

Minister for Digital Transition and Telecommunications (2022–2024)

In July 2022, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.[2][3]

In 2023, he criticized ChatGPT and accused the service of not respecting privacy law. However, he also stated being opposed to efforts to ban the service.[17]

Minister Delegate for European Affairs (2024)

In February 2024, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for European Affairs under Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné in the government of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2024–current)

Barrot was appointed Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier on 21 September 2024,[18] succeeding Séjourné, who was proposed as France's new European commissioner in Brussels by President Emmanuel Macron, within the Von der Leyen Commission II.

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".[19] On 8 October, he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rhetoric on the matter a "provocation".[20]

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.[21][22]

References

  1. ^ Leigh Thomas and Michel Rose (21 September 2024), Key ministers in France's new government line-up Reuters.
  2. ^ a b Peter O’Brien (4 July 2022), Macron braces for tough second term with Cabinet reshuffle Politico Europe.
  3. ^ a b 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.
  4. ^ Victor Goury-Laffont (8 February 2024), Macron completes painstaking reshuffle with EU affairs, health, energy appointments Politico Europe.
  5. ^ "Elections législatives 2017". Ministry of the Interior (in French). Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Yvelines - 2e circonscription : Liste des résultats - Elections législatives 2017 - Assemblée nationale". www2.assemblee-nationale.fr. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  7. ^ Kagni, Maxence. "Assemblée nationale : découvrez les noms des présidents des huit commissions | LCP - Assemblée nationale". lcp.fr (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Jean-Noël Barrot, nouveau ministre délégué chargé de la Transition numérique, ne pourra pas traiter les dossiers liés à Uber". www.lesnumeriques.com (in French). 11 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Prof. Jean-Noel Barrot". MIT Corporate Relations. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Jean-Noel BARROT, Associate Professor, on leave of absence". HEC Paris. January 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  11. ^ Martine Bréson (19 June 2017), Législatives 2017 : qui est Jean-Noël Barrot le nouveau député REM des Yvelines ?, France Bleu.
  12. ^ Jean-Noël Barrot, French National Assembly (in French).
  13. ^ Manon Rescan and Anne Michel (18 December 2018), Fraude fiscale : un dispositif pour lutter contre le « CumCum » adopté par l’Assemblée, Le Monde.
  14. ^ Raphaël Legendre (19 July 2018), Amélie de Montchalin: «L’évaluation est au cœur de notre fonction de député», L'Opinion.
  15. ^ Antoine Denéchère (28 February 2018), La députée de Loire-Atlantique Sarah El Haïry prend du galon et devient porte-parole du Modem, France Bleu.
  16. ^ Jean-Noël Barrot devient secrétaire général du MoDem, Le Figaro, 12 December 2018.
  17. ^ Kayali, Laura (7 April 2023). "French digital minister: ChatGPT doesn't respect privacy laws". POLITICO Europe. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  18. ^ "L'ascension fulgurante de Jean-Noël Barrot, nouveau ministre des Affaires étrangères" (in French). France 24. 22 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Guerre au Proche-Orient : ce qu'il faut retenir de la journée du dimanche 29 septembre" (in French). francetvinfo.fr. 29 September 2024. "Le Liban est un pays ami de la France, déjà si fragilisé, entraîné dans une guerre qu'il n'a pas choisi", a déclaré Jean-Noël Barrot. "La France se tient aux côtés du Liban dans les moments les plus durs", a ajouté le ministre.
  20. ^ "Guerre au Proche-Orient : le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Jean-Noël Barrot, dénonce une "provocation" de Benyamin Nétanyahou, qui menace le Liban de "destructions" comme à Gaza" (in French). francetvinfo.fr. 8 October 2024. Le ministre français des Affaires étrangères, Jean-Noël Barrot a dénoncé, mardi 8 octobre sur France 2, une "provocation" du Premier ministre israélien Benyamin Nétanyahou, qui a menacé le Liban de "destructions et (de) souffrances comme celles que nous voyons à Gaza" s'il ne se débarrassait pas du Hezbollah.
  21. ^ Pierre-Paul Bermingham (16 November 2020), France split over ‘American’ mail-in ballots for 2021 regional elections Politico Europe.
  22. ^ Assemblée nationale. "Proposition de loi n°3039 visant à rétablir le vote par correspondance". Assemblée nationale (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2023.