Élisabeth Guigou (; born Élisabeth Vallier; 6 August 1946) is a French politician of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

who served as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 2002 until 2017, representing

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobi ...

' 9th constituency.

Early life and career

Guigou was born in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, Morocco. After attending Sciences Po Aix and ENA, France's elite graduate school of public affairs, she worked in

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

' staff in 1982 before being hired by Hubert Védrine in

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

's government. She was appointed Secretary-General of the Interministerial Committee on European Economical Matters in 1986 during the period of

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

Studies

*Bachelor of English Language, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III *Master of American Literature, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III *Master of Political Science, Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence *2 years university degree in Economy ( DEUG),

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, List of rulers of Provence, Count of ...

*Alumna of the ''

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

'' (ENA), ''Promotion

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( ; ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality, and politics have remained widely influential in cont ...

'' (1974).

Political career

Guigou first got a taste of front-line politics when she was appointed Minister of European Affairs (1990–1993), during the campaign on the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

Member of the European Parliament, 1994–1997

Guigou was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Afr ...

. Throughout her time in parliament, she served as vice-chairwoman of the Committee on Institutional Affairs. During 1994–1995 she was member of the

Tindemans group The Tindemans Group was an EU group of reflection in 1994-1995, set up with the aim of bringing the general public into the debate about the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference with a view to enlargement with new member states from Central and Eas ...

. Together with

Elmar Brok Elmar Peter Brok (born 14 May 1946) is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1980 until 2019. He was the chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1999-2007 and from 2012-2017. He i ...

, she represented the European Parliament in the negotiations that produced the

Amsterdam Treaty The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

Member of the Jospin government, 1997–2002

In 1997, Guigou was elected to the National Assembly in the

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' and entered incoming Prime Minister

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 French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

's cabinet, as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

(1997–2000) and then as Minister of Employment (2000–2002). During her time in office, Guigou co-sponsored several bills that became law. She co-sponsored a 1998 law which abrogated the requirement of "manifestation of will" for children born in France of foreign parents to gain citizenship. Also in the late 1990s, she took action to grant investigating magistrates more independence; at the same time, she gave the Justice Ministry the ability to intervene. Guigou also co-sponsored a 2000 law which articulated the French policy on presumption of innocence in media by prohibiting magazines and newspapers from publishing photographs of accused individuals wearing handcuffs or other scenes which may "jeopardise a victim's dignity". It forbids the publication of photographs of survivors of violent crimes, including terrorist attacks, without their permission. The law, which was unanimously supported by the Senate and later became known as the Guigou law, was openly opposed by leading publications such as ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

'', which ignores the law. In 2001, in response to announcements of layoffs ahead of the 2002 presidential elections, Guigou and Jospin developed a proposal that required large employers planning layoffs to double severance-pay packages and provide at least six months' job retraining to laid-off workers.

Member of the National Assembly, 2002–2017

Guigou failed to be elected Mayor of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

and, facing possible defeat against Marie-Josée Roig in her district, was nominated as a candidate for the National Assembly in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

in the heavily left-wing ''département'' of

. She was re-elected in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Guigou campaigned for the Yes side in the referendum on the 2005

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

. From 2010 until 2011, Guigou served as vice-president of the National Assembly. In 2011, she was a supporter of

leader

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...

's presidential bid. However, she later helped Aubry's competitor

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. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

to prepare to re-negotiate European fiscal rules. From 2012 until 2017, Guigou served as chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2012. She was also a member of the Committee on European Affairs and the Working Group on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. In addition to her committee assignments, she served as vice-chairwoman of the French-Moroccan Parliamentary Friendship Group. Ahead of the Socialist Party's 2012 convention in Toulouse, Guigou publicly endorsed

Harlem Désir Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir (; born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who served as leader of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2012 to 2014. First widely known as a community activist and as the first president of SOS Racisme in the 1980s, ...

as candidate to succeed

at the party's leadership. In 2013, Guigou represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Shortly after the

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the status of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

held on 16 March 2014, Guigou and her counterparts of the Weimar Triangle parliaments –

Norbert Röttgen Norbert Alois Röttgen (born 2 July 1965) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2012. A member of t ...

of Germany and Grzegorz Schetyna of Poland – visited Kyiv to express their countries' firm support of the territorial integrity and the European integration of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. This was the first time that parliamentarians of the Weimar Triangle had ever made a joint trip to a third country. Following the 2014 European elections, Guigou confirmed her interest in succeeding Michel Barnier as France's member of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, thereby challenging

Pierre Moscovici 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 from 2012 to ...

. From 2015, Guigou served as a member of the

's High-level Group of Personalities on Defence Research chaired by Elżbieta Bieńkowska.

Later career

In December 2020, Guigou was named by Secretary of State for

Child protection Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

Adrien Taquet to lead a government-mandated committee on sexual violence against children. Amid revelations about

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

involving her friend Olivier Duhamel, Guigou resigned from that role in January 2021.

Overview

Governmental function Minister of European Affairs : 1990–1993. Keeper of the seals, Minister of Justice : 1997–2000. Minister of Employment and Solidarity : 2000–2002. Electoral mandates ''European Parliament'' Member of the

: 1994–1997 (Became minister in 1997, and elected in parliamentary elections). ''French Parliament'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

for

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

: June 1997- July 1997 (Appointed Minister of Justice in July 1997). Member of the

for

: Elected in 2002, reelected in 2007 and 2012. ''Regional Council'' Regional councillor of

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

: Elected in 1992, reelected in 1998, resigned in 2001. ''Municipal Council'' Deputy-mayor of Noisy-le-Sec : 2008–2010.

Other activities

* Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures, President (since 2014) *

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), Member of the Council * ''Femmes d'Europe'' (Women of Europe), Founder * Europartenaires, founding chairwoman and co-president (with Jean-Noël Jeanneney) * Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees * Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED), Member of the Political Sponsorship Committee * Institut du Bosphore, Member of the Scientific Committee *

Institut français des relations internationales The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri; English ''French Institute of International Relations'') is a think tank dedicated to International relations, international affairs, based in Paris, France. Overview Ifri was establi ...

(Ifri), Member of the Board of Directors * Jacques Delors Institute, Member of the Board of Directors * Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee *

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Member of the European Group

Political positions

In December 2014, Guigou raised international media attention by sponsoring a resolution to ask the French government to recognise

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. In May 2016, Guigou joined 16 French female politicians – including Christine Lagarde and Fleur Pellerin – in calling for an end to "immunity" for sexist male politicians in an open letter published in the '' Journal de Dimanche'' newspaper. The letter came after Denis Baupin, deputy speaker of the

, resigned over sexual harassment claims.

Personal life

Guigou is married to Jean-Louis Guigou, a professor of economics, former technical adviser to

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 199 ...

and civil servant. They have one child.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Guigou, Elisabeth 1946 births Living people Politicians from Marrakesh Convention of Republican Institutions politicians Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Ministers of justice of France Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Women government ministers of France Women members of the National Assembly (France) 20th-century French women politicians 21st-century French women politicians Female justice ministers Alumni of Lycée Descartes (Rabat) Sciences Po Aix alumni École nationale d'administration alumni