Geoffroy Didier (; born 12 April 1976) is a French lawyer and politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from December 2017 to July 2024. A member of The Republicans (LR), he has also held a seat in the

Regional Council of Île-de-France The Regional Council of Île-de-France () is the regional council of Île-de-France, France's most populous administrative region. Made up of 209 regional councillors elected for 6 years, it is headquartered in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just north ...

since 2010.

Early life and education

Didier graduated from

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

in 1998 and obtained a master's degree in business law from the

University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1999. He also holds a degree from

ESSEC Business School Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...

(2004).

Political career

Career in national politics

In 2008, Didier worked as an advisor to Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Cooperative Development

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (; born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and ...

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 ...

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 ...

. During the campaign for the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, Didier served as deputy spokesman for candidate

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 ...

, along with

Franck Riester Franck Alix Georges Riester (born 3 January 1974) is a French politician of Renaissance (French political party), Renaissance (RE). He has represented the Seine-et-Marne's 5th constituency, fifth constituency of Seine-et-Marne in the National A ...

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 ...

, Valérie Debord and Salima Saa. After the elections, he joined forces with

in founded

The Strong Right La Droite Forte was a conservative faction within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and later The Republicans (LR). It was created as a faction in July 2012 by Guillaume Peltier and Geoffroy Didier. Ideology The motion's declaration of p ...

, a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

faction within the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

(UMP). He also became the party's deputy secretary general, under the leadership of chairman

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

. In addition, he became a member of the Friends of Nicolas Sarkozy group. Considered close to

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Anne Émilie Pécresse (; Birth name, née Roux ; 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has been the President of the Regional Council (France), President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republic ...

, Didier played a prominent role in many of her political campaigns, including when she became the head of the Paris region in the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

. In March 2016, Didier announced his candidacy for the Republicans’ primaries ahead of the

2017 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...

, but failed to secure a sufficient number of votes. He later endorsed

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

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 ...

before supporting the campaign of

Member of the European Parliament, 2017–2024

Didier unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the 2014 European elections. However, when

Constance Le Grip Constance Le Grip (born 14 November 1960) is a French politician, formerly of The Republican Group, who currently serves as a member of the 15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic, representing Hauts-de-Seine's 6th constituency. She serv ...

stood down as a Member of the Parliament to move to 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 ...

, Didier took her seat in June 2017. During his time in parliament, he served on the

Committee on Legal Affairs The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...

, where he became 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 2021

Digital Services Act The Digital Services Act (DSA) is an EU regulation adopted in 2022 that addresses illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation. It updates the Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 in EU law, and was proposed alongside the Digital ...

. In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age. In addition to his committee assignments, Didier was a member of the delegation for relations with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In the party's 2017 leadership election, Didier supported

Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from 2016 to 2024. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 follow ...

. When Wauquiez resigned from the Republicans’ leadership in 2019, Didier was considered by news media as a potential successor but soon announced that he would not be putting himself forward for the position; instead, he endorsed Christian Jacob. In addition to his parliamentary mandate, Didier worked for law firm CARLARA with offices in Paris and Brussels.

Later political career

In the Republicans' 2025 leadership election, Didier endorsed Wauquiez to succeed

Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti ( or , ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who led The Republicans (LR) from 2022 to 2024. He has represented Alpes-Maritimes's 1st constituency in the National Assembly since the 2007 legislative election. Once a m ...

as the party's new chair and joined his campaign team.

Political positions

In early 2020, Didier called on

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Un ...

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Spani ...

in a letter to suspend the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement and demand action against cases of so-called parental child abduction affecting Europeans living in Japan.Marine Strauss and Chang-Ran Kim (17 February 2020)
Two fathers demand action against Japan over parental child abduction
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didier, Geoffroy 1976 births Lawyers from Boulogne-Billancourt Living people Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians MEPs for France 2014–2019 MEPs for France 2019–2024 The Republicans (France) MEPs Politicians from Boulogne-Billancourt Members of the Regional Council of Île-de-France Sciences Po alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Columbia University alumni