Franck Alix Georges Riester (born 3 January 1974) is a French politician of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

(RE). He has represented the fifth constituency of

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

in 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 ...

since 2024, having previously held the seat from 2017 to 2018 and briefly in 2022. Riester has held various ministerial roles throughout his career. In 2024, he was appointed Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness, the

Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

, and French Nationals Abroad in the

Attal government The Attal government ( French: ''gouvernement Attal'') was the forty-fourth government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 9 January 2024 and headed by Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. It served as a car ...

. Prior to this, he served as Minister Delegate for Relations with

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(2022–2024) in the

Borne government The Borne government ( French: ''gouvernement Borne'') was the forty-third government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 16 May 2022 and headed by Élisabeth Borne as Prime Minister under President Emmanuel Macron. It served as a caretake ...

and as Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness (2020–2022) in both the Castex and Borne governments. From 2018 to 2020, he was

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

in the second Philippe government. Riester is the president of Agir, which merged into Renaissance as an "associate party" in 2022.

Early career

After a stint at

accounting firm An accounting network or accounting association is a professional services network whose principal purpose is to provide members resources to assist the clients around the world and hence reduce the uncertainty by bringing together a greater numbe ...

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

, Riester managed his family's

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

Political career

Member of the National Assembly

Riester was a member of the

from

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 ...

until 2018. During his time in parliament, he served on the Committee on the Committee on Economic Affairs (2007-2009), the Committee on European Affairs (2009-2011) and the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education (2009-2018). In his first term from 2007 until 2012, he was the UMP parliamentary group's youngest member. He was also the parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on the 2009

HADOPI law The French HADOPI law (, English: "Supreme Authority for the Distribution of Works and Protection of Copyright on the Internet") or Creation and Internet law () was introduced during 2009, providing what is known as a graduated response as a mean ...

. In the

2009 European elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

, Riester was the national campaign manager for

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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

’s

UMP UMP may refer to: Science * Ultra metal-poor star, refers to a type of star with extremely low levels of heavier elements * Uniformly most powerful test, in statistical hypothesis testing * Uridine monophosphate, a nucleotide * Utility maximizat ...

party. During Sarkozy’s unsuccessful campaign for the 2012 presidential elections, he served as the party’s head of communications, along with

Geoffroy Didier Geoffroy Didier (; born 12 April 1976) is a French lawyer and politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from December 2017 to July 2024. A member of The Republicans (LR), he has also held a seat in the Regional Council o ...

, Valérie Debord,

Guillaume Peltier Guillaume Peltier (; born 27 August 1976) is a French politician, former teacher and business leader, who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2024. He represented the 2nd constituency of the Loir-et-Cher department in t ...

and

Salima Saa Salima Saa (born 7 September 1971) is a French politician of The Republicans (LR) who briefly served as secretary of state for gender equality in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier from September to December 2024. Political caree ...

. In the Republicans’ 2016 presidential primaries, Riester endorsed

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician, writer, and former diplomat who served as Economy and Finance Minister from 2017 to 2024 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in ...

as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

. When the primaries' winner

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

became embroiled in a political affair during his campaign, Riester publicly called on him to step down. From June 2017, Riester co-chaired

UDI and Independents group The UDI and Independent Deputies () was a parliamentary group in the National Assembly of France including members of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), Agir (2017–2020), and some dissidents of The Republicans (LR) after the 2017 ...

in the National Assembly, alongside

Stéphane Demilly Stéphane Demilly (born 26 June 1963 in Albert, Somme) is a French politician of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) who served as a member of the National Assembly of France from 2002 until 2020, representing the Somme department. ...

. He was subsequently excluded from the Republicans on 31 October 2017, alongside

Gérald Darmanin Gérald Moussa Jean Darmanin (; born 11 October 1982) is a French politician serving as Minister of Justice (France), Minister of Justice in the Bayrou government. He previously served as Minister of the Interior (France), Minister of the Inter ...

Sébastien Lecornu Sébastien Lecornu (; born 11 June 1986) is a French politician who has served as Minister of the Armed Forces in the governments of successive Prime Ministers Élisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal, Michel Barnier and François BayrouLeigh Thomas and ...

and

Thierry Solère Thierry Solère (born 17 August 1971) is a French politician who has served as the member of the National Assembly (France), National Assembly for the Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency, 9th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine from 2012 French legisla ...

. In November 2017, he co-founded a new party, Agir. Riester was a candidate for mayor of Coulommiers in the

2020 French municipal elections The 2020 French municipal elections were held from 15 March to 28 June to renew the municipal councils of the approximately 35,000 French communes. The first round took place on 15 March and the second round was postponed to 28 June due to the C ...

which he won in the first round with more than 50 percent of the vote, but entrusted the role of mayor to Laurence Picard.

Minister of Culture

Riester is appointed Minister of Culture in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 202 ...

on 16 October 2018. During his time in office, he announced in September 2019 a

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

reform project aimed at creating "France Médias", bringing together ''

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

'', ''

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

'',

France Médias Monde France Médias Monde () is a French state-owned holding company which supervises and co-ordinates the activities of the major public media organizations International broadcasting, broadcasting or publishing internationally from France. The comp ...

(''

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

'' and ''

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

'') and the National Audiovisual Institute (INA). He also merged the Superior Council of the Audiovisual (CSA) and the Supreme Authority for the Distribution and Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet (HADOPI). As minister he attempted to prevent the demolition of the

Saint-Joseph Chapel of Saint-Paul College in Lille The Saint-Joseph Chapel was a historic church on the grounds of Saint-Paul College in Lille, France. It was built in 1887, and was demolished in February 2021 to build a new campus. Construction The chapel was the work of architect . Demoliti ...

Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness

On 6 July 2020, after the appointment of Jean Castex as Prime Minister, Riester is appointed Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs,

Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under Preside ...

Political positions

In January 2013, Riester was one of the two UMP deputies, along with Benoist Apparu, to publicly declare his support and vote for a bill legalizing

same-sex marriage in France Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since 18 May 2013, making France the Legal status of same-sex marriage, thirteenth country in the world and the ninth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry. The legislation applies to metropolita ...

which had been proposed by the government of

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 ...

. When director

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

won best directing for his film '' An Officer and a Spy'' at the annual

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

in 2020, his cast and production team boycotted the ceremony after Riester said the success of a director accused of sexual violence would send the wrong signal in the era of the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

Personal life

Riester came out as gay in 2011, the first French MP to do so. In March 2020, during the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Riester tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riester, Franck 1974 births Living people Politicians from Paris Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Modern and Humanist France Agir (France) politicians Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Mayors of places in Île-de-France French gay politicians ESSEC Business School alumni ISG Business School alumni French people of German descent Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres LGBTQ legislators in France LGBTQ conservatism LGBTQ mayors of places in France LGBTQ government ministers 21st-century French LGBTQ people Members of the Borne government