Renaud Muselier (born 6 May 1959) is a French physician and politician who has served as

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 ...

of the

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( French: ''Conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur'') is the deliberative assembly of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The regional council is made up of 123 regional ...

since 2017. A former member of The Republicans (LR), he previously was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and education

A native of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Muselier is the grandson of Admiral

Émile Muselier Émile Henry Muselier (Marseilles, 17 April 1882 – Toulon, 2 September 1965) was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces ('' Forces navales françaises libres'', or FNFL) during World War II. He was responsible for the idea ...

. He is the nephew of the Queen

Geraldine of Albania Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony ( en, Geraldine; 6 August 1915 – 22 October 2002) was Queen of the Albanians from her marriage to King Zog I on 27 April 1938 until the King was deposed on 7 April of the ...

(née Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi), wife of the last King of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

, Zog I, deposed by the Italians in 1939.

Political career

Muselier was the member of the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille – Notre-Dame-du-Mont from 1992 to 1995, as well as a member of the

Regional Council Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

from 2004 to 2007. He was Deputy Mayor of

from 1995 to 2008 under the mayorship of

Jean-Claude Gaudin Jean-Claude Gaudin (; born 8 October 1939) is a French politician for The Republicans. He served as the Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020. He was a member of the National Assembly of France from Bouches-du-Rhône from 1978 to 1989 and has be ...

Early career in national politics

Muselier was a member of 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 ...

for the 5th constituency of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

from 1993 to 2002. During that time, her served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs. From 2002 to 2005, Muselier served as Secretary of State for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

, under the leadership of successive ministers Dominique de Villepin and

Michel Barnier Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who served as the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF) from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as Chief Negotiator, Task ...

. Following the 2007 legislative election, Muselier re-joined the National Assembly, serving on its Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012. Muselier was reelected of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and became its first vice-president under the presidency of Christian Estrosi.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019

Muselier became a

following the 2014 European election. Throughout his term, he served on the Committee on Transport and Tourism. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the Parliament's delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. In the 2016 The Republicans presidential primary, Muselier endorsed

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 2017–present

On 29 May 2017, Muselier was elected President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, succeeding Christian Estrosi, who returned as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

. Muselier announced his intention to run for reelection on a joint ticket with

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a ...

(LREM) in 2021, under an agreement brokered by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served ...

. However, this led to the resignation of Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi and Toulon Mayor Hubert Falco from The Republicans a few days later. LREM politician Sophie Cluzel subsequently announced she would lead a list herself, thus terminating the joint ticket agreement, before backtracking and announcing the agreement would be upheld. Muselier ultimately got 57.3 percent of the vote, against 42.7 percent for National Rally candidate

Thierry Mariani Thierry Mariani (born 8 August 1958) is a French politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He previously served as Minister in charge of Transport under the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, Transp ...

. Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Muselier publicly declared his support for Xavier Bertrand as the Republicans’ candidate. Shortly after, he announced his decision to leave the Republicans, accusing fellow party member Eric Ciotti of "conveying the ideas of Éric Zemmour within LR".

Other activities

* Associations Pensons le Grand Marseille et Cap sur l'Avenir, President *

Chorégies d'Orange The ''Chorégies d'Orange'' is a summer opera festival held each August in Orange located about 21 kilometres north of Avignon in southern France. Performances are presented in the ancient Roman theatre, the Théâtre Antique d'Orange, the origi ...

, Member of the Board of Directors * Fondation Philippe Daher, Member of the Board of Directors * French Development Agency (AFD), Member of the Board of Directors *

Institut du Monde Arabe The ''Institut du Monde Arabe'', French for Arab World Institute, abbreviated ''IMA'', is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural ...

(IMA), Chairman of the Board of Trustees (since 2011) * Rencontres d'Arles, Honorary Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors
Rencontres d'Arles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muselier, Renaud 1959 births Living people 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians Physicians from Marseille Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic The Republicans (France) MEPs MEPs for South-East France 2014–2019 20th-century French physicians Secretaries of State of France Departmental councillors (France) Members of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Presidents of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French city councillors