Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

from 2012 to 2014 and as Minister for European Affairs between 1997 and 2002. Previously a member of the

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

group the Revolutionary Communist League, Moscovici joined the

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major po ...

(PS) in 1984 and has since that time been a member of the Departmental Council of

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

and the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. He has been National Secretary of his party since 1995. In May 2014 he was entrusted by the Prime Minister of France with a six-month mission to assess how European policies can better contribute to growth and employment. In July 2014 French President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...

proposed him to be France's representative in the next

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

. In September 2014, he was named as European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs by President-designate of the

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

Early life and education

Born in Paris, Moscovici is the son of the influential Romanian

social psychologist Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the rela ...

Serge Moscovici Serge Moscovici (June 14, 1925 in Brăila, Romania as ''Srul Herş Moscovici'' – November 15, 2014 in Paris) was a Romanian-born French social psychologist, director of the '' Laboratoire Européen de Psychologie Sociale'' ("European Laborator ...

and of the Polish

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

Marie Bromberg-Moscovici. Moscovici 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 ...

at the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, var ...

in 1974, a DEA in economics and in philosophy, and he graduated from

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university'' Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

, where he studied under

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...

, who became a friend and mentor in politics. He was a president of ''À gauche en Europe'', a group founded by Strauss-Kahn and

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...

and also created his own group "Besoin de Gauche". After graduating from the

in 1984, Moscovici was appointed to the

Cour des comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 an ...

– French Court of Audit -, of which he is currently a senior member.

Political career

Early political career

Initially active in the Revolutionary Communist League, he left in 1984 to join the PS and, in 1986, became secretary of the "experts' group" created by

Claude Allègre Claude Allègre (; born 31 March 1937) is a French politician and scientist. Scientific work The main scientific area of Claude Allègre was geochemistry. Allègre co-authored an ''Introduction to geochemistry'' in 1974. Since the 1980s, he ...

. In 1988, he moved on to the Ministry for National Education in Minister Lionel Jospin's cabinet, first as conseiller technique, then as chargé de mission. From 1990 to 1994, he headed the Public Service Modernisation and Financing Department at the Commissariat général du Plan – French Planning Office.

Member of the European Parliament

From 1994 to 1997, Moscovici was a Member of the European Parliament. In parliament, he served on the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and Mexico.

Minister delegate for European Affairs

Elected to the French Parliament from the Doubs département in 1997, he went on to become a Member of the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

Regional Council from 1998 to 2004, and of the Doubs département General Council from 1994 to 2002. From 1997 to 2002, Moscovici was Minister delegate for European Affairs in the government of

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

. At the request of Chirac, he represented the French authorities at the Convention on the Future of Europe in 2002.

Member of the European Parliament

On 20 July 2004, Moscovici was elected one of the 14

Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau and chair the plenary when the president is not i ...

and was re-elected on 17 January 2007. In addition, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Of Romanian origin, he was one of the supporters of Romania's EU integration. He stated that he identifies itself as a half Romanian.

Member of the French National Assembly and Minister for Finance and Economy

From 2007 to 2012, Moscovici was a Member of the French National Assembly (4th constituency in the Doubs), serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and subsequently the Finance Committee. He also served as vice-president of the Assembly's Committee on European Affairs. He was President of the Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération (PMA – Greater Montbéliard Authority) from 2008 to 2012. In 2011, Moscovici endorsed

and ran his successful campaign for the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territories) to elect the President of France (who is a ...

. In the subsequent legislative election, Moscovici was re-elected to the National Assembly from the 4th constituency in the Doubs. Moscovici served as France's Minister for Finance and Economy from May 2012 to April 2014. Moscovici served as a Member of the French National Assembly. In May 2014 he was entrusted by the Prime Minister of France with a six-month mission to assess how European policies can better contribute to growth and employment.

Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs

In July 2014

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Francois Hollande nominated Moscovici to be France's candidate for the

led by

. Juncker subsequently nominated Moscovici as Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs. Moscovici served as Commissioner from 2014 until 2019. In this capacity, he was in charge of the application of the

Stability and Growth Pact The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is an agreement, among all of the 27 member states of the European Union, to facilitate and maintain the stability of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Based primarily on Articles 121 and 126 of the Tre ...

, as well as ensuring the economic soundness of Commission proposals and deepening the

Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of prog ...

to create the conditions for jobs, growth and investment, and encouraging further structural reforms. On taxation matters, he was responsible for developing a

value added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

system at the European level, improving the functioning of the internal market in both direct and indirect taxation and fighting tax fraud and tax evasion. His responsibilities also included the development and management of an efficient

European Union Customs Union The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...

. By 2017, Moscovici openly advocated a fully formed

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU pol ...

finance minister, and admitted that he would be interested in that position. In the meantime, the as Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs should also assume the presidency of the

Eurogroup The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. The group has 19 membe ...

. In a 2018 letter to

Sergei Stanishev Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev ( bg, Сергей Дмитриевич Станишев ; born 5 May 1966) is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of Eu ...

, then chairman of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

(PES), Moscovici ruled himself out of the race to succeed

and become the Commission's next president, “due to profound disagreements with he French Socialist Party’spolitical line and strategy on Europe.”

Wiretapping by NSA

In 2015,

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency wiretapped Moscovici’s communication during his time as Minister of Finance.

Overview

Governmental function

*Minister of Economy and Finances, June 2012 – April 2014 *Minister of Economy, Finances, and Foreign Trade, May 2012 – June 2012 *Minister of European Affairs, 1997–2002.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

*Member of

, 1994–1997 (elected in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

in 1997, and became minister) 2004–2007 (Resignation, re-elected member of the

in 2007). Elected in 1994, re-elected in 2004.

National Assembly of France

*Member of the

for

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

, 1998–2004.

General Council

*General councillor of

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Valentigney Valentigney () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Valentigney is best known as the place where Peugeot began operations; several members of the Peugeot family still live in the area. ...

, 2008–2014. *Municipal councillor of

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

, 1995–2008. Re-elected in 2001.

Agglomeration community Council

*President of the

Agglomeration community An agglomeration community (french: communauté d'agglomération) is a government structure in France, created by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of four forms of intercommunality, less integrated than a métropole or a communauté u ...

of the Pays de Montbéliard, 2008–2012 (resignation). *Member of the

of the Pays de Montbéliard, 2008–2014.

Opinion

"We sincerely hope that Greece remains in the eurozone", Moscovici said.Don't violate the bailout deal
Europe Online Magazine, 4 May 2012

References

External links

Personal blog
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moscovici, Pierre 1957 births Living people Lycée Condorcet alumni Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Judges of the Court of Audit (France) Eurogroup French European Commissioners French Ministers of Finance French people of Romanian-Jewish descent Government and politics articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Government ministers of France Jewish French politicians MEPs for East France 2004–2009 Politicians from Paris Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Revolutionary Communist League (France) politicians Socialist Party (France) MEPs Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic European Commissioners 2014–2019

Early life and education

Political career

Early political career

Member of the European Parliament

Minister delegate for European Affairs

Member of the European Parliament

Member of the French National Assembly and Minister for Finance and Economy

Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs

Wiretapping by NSA

Overview

Governmental function

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

National Assembly of France

General Council

Agglomeration community Council

Opinion

See also

References

External links