Bernard Clerfayt (; born 30 December 1961, in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

) is a Belgian politician. He has been the mayor of

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

since 2001 and is currently vice-president of the Front Démocratique des Francophones (FDF). As is common in Belgium, he holds a

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

and has also been a member of the federal Belgian Chamber of Representatives since 2007. Clerfayt received a master's degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

(UCLouvain) in 1986 while working as a research assistant at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

's Centre for Economic Studies (Centrum voor Economische Studien). After an internship at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

in Washington, D.C., he joined IRES (Economic Analysis Service) at UCLouvain. He pursued his career as a research and teaching assistant. He then obtained the chair of Macroeconomics and Political Economics at UCLouvain, at Facultés universitaires catholiques de Mons and at Facultés Universitaires de Lille (1984-1997). Bernard Clerfayt joined the local section in Schaerbeek, where he had moved to, in 1985. Ten years later, he became 2nd Deputy Mayor in Schaerbeek and finally mayor in 2001. In June 1989, he was elected to the Brussels Parliament and was reelected in 1995, 1999 and 2004. He has held different posts such as Vice-president of the Brussels Regional Council and President of the Committee for Town and Country Planning and Land Policy. In 2007, Clerfayt was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and was appointed in 2008 as the Secretary of State for Finance in charge of the modernisation of the Department of Finance, green taxation and the fight against tax fraud. In 2010 he was re-elected to the federal chamber. Clerfayt was re-elected mayor of Schaerbeek in 2012 at the head of a governing coalition of his own party with Ecolo (green party) and the CdH (Christian-democrats). He had governed with Ecolo since 2006.

References

External links

*
Bernard Clerfayt's Website about the first edition of the Ecofisc symposium (green taxes) Profile, website of the Front Démocratique des FrancophonesProfile, website of the Mouvement Réformateur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerfayt, Bernard 1961 births DéFI politicians Living people Mayors of places in Belgium Members of the 52nd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Ministers of state of Belgium People from Uccle