Martine Louise Marie Aubry (French pronunciation: [maʁtin obʁi]; née Delors; born 8 August 1950)[1] 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 of Lille (Nord) since March 2001; she is also the first woman to hold this position. Her father, Jacques Delors, served as Minister of Finance under President François Mitterrand and was also President of the European Commission.

Martine Aubry
Aubry in 2012
First Secretary of the Socialist Party
In office
26 November 2008 – 12 September 2012*
Preceded byFrançois Hollande
Succeeded byHarlem Désir
Mayor of Lille
Assumed office
25 March 2001
Preceded byPierre Mauroy
Minister of Social Affairs
In office
2 June 1997 – 18 October 2000
Prime MinisterLionel Jospin
Preceded byJean-Claude Gaudin
Succeeded byÉlisabeth Guigou
Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training
In office
15 May 1991 – 28 March 1993
Prime MinisterÉdith Cresson
Pierre Bérégovoy
Preceded byJean-Pierre Soisson
Succeeded byMichel Giraud
Member of the National Assembly
for Nord's 5th Constituency
In office
12 June 1997 – 4 July 1997
Preceded byBernard Davoine
Succeeded byBernard Davoine
Personal details
Born
Martine Louise Marie Delors

(1950-08-08) 8 August 1950 (age 74)
Paris, France
Political partySocialist Party
Parent
Alma materPantheon-Assas University
Sciences Po
École Nationale d'Administration
Signature
  • Harlem Désir served as Acting Leader from 30 June 2011 – 16 October 2011.

Aubry joined the PS in 1974, and was appointed Minister of Labour by Prime Minister Édith Cresson in 1991, but lost her position in 1993 after the Right won the legislative elections. However, she became Minister of Social Affairs when Lionel Jospin was appointed Prime Minister in 1997. She is mostly known for having pushed the popular 35-hour workweek law, known as the "Loi Aubry", reducing the nominal length of the normal full-time working week from 39 to 35 hours, and the law that created Couverture maladie universelle (Universal health care coverage).

Aubry stepped down from her Cabinet post in 2001 to be elected Mayor of Lille in place of Pierre Mauroy. Aubry subsequently lost her seat in the National Assembly in the general election of 2002. In March 2008, she was re-elected Mayor of Lille, with 66.55% of the votes.

In November 2008, Aubry was elected to lead the Socialist Party, narrowly defeating Ségolène Royal. While Royal disputed the results, the Socialist Party declared on 25 November 2008 that Aubry had won the contested election. On 28 June 2011, Martine Aubry announced she would seek the Socialist nomination to run in the 2012 presidential election, ultimately losing to François Hollande, her predecessor as First Secretary.

Biography

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Early life and education

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Born in Paris, Aubry is the daughter of Jacques Delors, French Minister of Finance (1981–1985) and European Commission President (1985–1995), and his wife Marie. Aubry was educated at the lycée Notre-Dame-des-Oiseaux[2] and the lycée Paul-Valéry (in Paris).[3] She holds a degree in economic science from Panthéon-Assas University.[4]

She did additional studies, gaining a diploma from the Institut des Sciences Sociales du Travail, and one from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (or Sciences Po) in 1972. Between 1973 and 1975, Aubry studied at the École nationale d'administration (ÉNA, National School of Administration).

Professional career

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In 1975 Aubry became a civil administrator at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (Ministère du Travail et des Affaires sociales). During this period, she was active within the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). She became a professor at ÉNA in 1978. In addition, she was seconded to the State Council between 1980 and 1981.

Following the election of François Mitterrand to the French presidency in 1981, Aubry successively held several posts at the Ministry of Social Affairs, in the cabinets of Jean Auroux and Pierre Bérégovoy. In 1984, she investigated French asbestos policy for the Comité Permanent Amiante (Permanent Asbestos Committee, an informal public-private working group formed to manage the health problems of workers affected by asbestos). The group's deputy director, Jean-Luc Pasquier, testified before the courts to account for the group's members' actions.

After the defeat of the socialists in the French legislative election of 1986, Aubry was named Master of Requests at the State Council. From 1989-91 she worked as Assistant Director at Pechiney, working with Jean Gandois. She was involved with the opening of a plant at Dunkerque and the closure of the aluminium works at Noguères.[5]

Political career

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Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training: 1991–1993

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Aubry was named Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training by Édith Cresson, and carried on in this capacity in the Bérégovoy ministry until March 1993. According to Jean-Luc Pasquier,[6] she supported the controlled use of asbestos whilst all other members of the EEC supported an outright ban. She caused the French veto of a European decree against the use of asbestos.[7] France did not ban asbestos until 1997.[8]

In January 2010, a public health judge charged with investigating former government measures on asbestos had Aubry interrogated by gendarmes in Lille.[9]

When the Right came into power at the French legislative election in 1986, Aubry started the Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion (FACE, the Act Against Exclusion Foundation). In 1995, Pierre Mauroy named her as the first deputy to the Mayor of Lille, thus giving her a foothold in the department of Nord.

Lionel Jospin, who became the socialist candidate as French President in 1995, made her his campaign spokesman during the presidential campaign. Upon his defeat, Jospin became first secretary of the Socialist Party, and offered her the number two spot, which Aubry refused.

Aubry had good relations with part of the establishment, especially with her former Pechiney boss, Jean Gandois, and the Parti communiste francais. But she did not get on well with the unions, in particular with Nicole Notat, the former General Secretary of the CFDT.[citation needed]

Aubry has been described as hard and demanding. She counters, "Je dis les choses en face, je ne suis pas faux-cul. Mais je crois être bien moins dure que beaucoup de gens en politique. Je suis même peut-être trop sensible. (I'm up-front, and I'm not a hypocrite. But I think I'm much less hard than many politicians. I may even be too sensitive.)[5] "

Minister of Employment and Solidarity: 1997–2000

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Elected as a member of the National Assembly, Aubry was appointed in 1997 as Minister of Employment and Solidarity, the most important minister after the Prime Minister. The same year, to fight unemployment, she created a new employment contract for young people (Emplois-jeunes) with financial help from the government. In 1998, a law establishing the 35-hour workweek was adopted.

In 1999, the Couverture maladie universelle (CMU), a program that reimburses medical expenses through social security for everyone, was voted through. Furthermore, for people on low incomes, the CMU offers complementary health coverage of 100%, which is added to standard Social Security payments; this avoids the necessity for additional private (top-up) insurance.

2012 Presidential candidacy

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On 28 June 2011, Aubry said in a televised address from the former train station of Lille-Saint-Sauveur: "I have decided to propose my candidacy to the presidential election".[10]

Following the first round of the citizens primary, she faced François Hollande in the second round of voting on 16 October in a two-way runoff. In the final round of voting, Hollande won the nomination with 56.6% of the vote.

After Aubry's defeat in the primaries, she became one of the main supporters of the Francois Hollande presidential campaign. Aubry's name had been mentioned as a potential prime minister for François Hollande.[11] But, after Hollande was elected President, he chose Jean-Marc Ayrault as Prime Minister; Aubry refused to join his cabinet.[12]

From 2014: statements of divergence

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On several occasions, Aubry expressed criticism of the Manuel Valls government, including the fact that he was chosen.[13] In October 2014, she asked for a reorientation of the economic policy.[14]

During a press conference held on 23 September 2015, where Aubry confirmed the choice of Pierre de Saintignon as the head of list for the next coming Regional Elections, she said that the bad polls of the list are partly caused by some choices of the government. She was criticising Emmanuel Macron, Minister of Economy since 2014, saying: "Macron? How to tell it... The cup is full."[15]

Ahead of the Socialist Party's 2017 primaries, Aubry publicly endorsed Benoît Hamon as the party's candidate for the presidential election later that year.[16]

Political positions held

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Bibliography

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  • 1982 : Pratique de la fonction personnel : le management des ressources humaines ; Martine Aubry, Pierre Balloy, Robert Bosquet, Pierre Cazamian... [etc.] sous la direction de Dimitri Weiss... avec la collaboration de Pierre Morin ; Publication : Paris : Éditions d'Organisation, 1982 ; Description matérielle : 644 p. : ill. ; 25 cm ; ISBN 2-7081-0477-2
  • 1992 : Le chômage de longue durée : comprendre, agir, évaluer : actes du Colloque Agir contre le chômage de longue durée, les 18 et 19 novembre 1991 à la Maison de la chimie à Paris / [organisé par le Ministère du travail, Délégation à l'emploi et la Mission interministérielle Recherche expérimentation, MIRE ; textes réunis par Patricia Bouillaguet et Christophe Guitton ; préf. par Martine Aubry ; Colloque Agir contre le chômage de longue durée (1991 ; Paris) France. Mission interministérielle recherche-expérimentation ; Publication : Paris : Syros-Alternatives, 1992 ; Description matérielle : 745 p. : graph. ; 24 cm ; ISBN 2-86738-745-0
  • 1994 : Le choix d'agir ; Aubry, Martine ; Publication : Albin Michel, 1994 ; ISBN 2-226-06801-5
  • 1995 : Carnet de route d'un maire de banlieue : entre innovations et tempêtes ; Picard, Paul (préf. de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : Syros, 1995 ; ISBN 2-84146-205-6
  • 1995 : Petit dictionnaire pour lutter contre l'extrême droite ; Aubry, Martine; Duhamel, Olivier ; Publication : Éd. du Seuil, 1995 ; ISBN 2-02-028127-9
  • 1996 : Pauvretés ; sous la dir. de Claire Brisset, préf. de Martine Aubry ; Publication : Hachette, 1996 ; ISBN 2-01-235180-8
  • 1997 : Il est grand temps ; Aubry, Martine ; Publication : A. Michel, 1997 ; ISBN 2-226-09228-5
  • 1997 : La nouvelle Grande-Bretagne : vers une société de partenaires ; Tony Blair (préf. de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : La Tour-d'Aigues : Éd. de l'Aube, 1997 ; ISBN 2-87678-310-X
  • 1997 : Martine Aubry : enquête sur une énigme politique ; Burel, Paul; Tatu, Natacha ; Publication : Calmann-Lévy, 1997 ; ISBN 2-7021-2792-4
  • 1998 : Il est grand temps ; Aubry, Martine ; Publication : Librairie générale française, 1998 ; ISBN 2-253-14376-6
  • 2002 : C'est quoi la solidarité ? ; Aubry, Martine ; Publication : A. Michel, 2000 ; ISBN 2-226-11018-6
  • 2000 : Emploi et travail [Texte imprimé] : regards croisés ; Olivier Bertrand, Denis Clerc, Yves Clot... [et al.] ; sous la dir. de Jean Gadrey (préf. par Martine Aubry) ; Publication : Montréal (Québec) : l'Harmattan, 2000 ; ISBN 2-7384-9096-4
  • 2002 : La Ville à mille temps ; Sous la direction de Jean-Yves Boulin (préface de Martine Aubry) ; ISBN 2-87678-694-X
  • 2002 : Notre-Dame de la Treille, du rêve à la réalité ; Frédéric Vienne (préface de Martine Aubry) ; ISBN 2-912215-08-0
  • 2003 : L'important, c'est la santé ; coordonné par Martine Aubry ; Publication : La Tour d'Aigues : Éd. de l'Aube, 2003 ; ISBN 2-87678-944-2
  • 2004 : Démocratie participative : Promesses et ambiguïté ; Michel Falise (préface de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : Aube (5 février 2004) ; ISBN 2-87678-916-7
  • 2004 : Notre Sébasto...pol : Mémoire d'un Théâtre 1903-2003 ; Edgar Duvivier (préface de Martine Aubry) ; Publication Publi-Nord (1 mars 2004) ; ISBN 2-902970-56-0
  • 2004 : Culture toujours : et plus que jamais ! ; coordonné par Martine Aubry ; Publication : La Tour-d'Aigues : Éd. de l'Aube, 2004 ; ISBN 2-87678-990-6
  • 2004 : Réduire les fractures nord/sud : Une utopie ? ; sous la direction de Martine Aubry ; Publication : L'Aube (20 août 2004) ; ISBN 2-7526-0017-8
  • 2004 : Muscler sa conscience du bonheur en trente jours ; Martine Aubry ; Publications : Holoconcept (1 septembre 2004) ; ISBN 2-913281-39-7
  • 2004 : Quel projet pour la gauche ? ; Martine Aubry ; Publication : L'Aube (19 novembre 2004) ; ISBN 2-7526-0056-9
  • 2004 : Une vision pour espérer, une volonté pour transformer ; Martine Aubry ; Publication : La Tour-d'Aigues : Éd. de l'Aube, 2004 ; ISBN 2-7526-0031-3
  • 2005 : Un nouvel art de ville : Le projet urbain de Lille ; Pierre Saintignon (préface de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : Editions Ville de Lille (janvier 1, 2005) ; ISBN 2-9523506-0-4
  • 2005 : Le Maître au Feuillage brodé : Primitifs flamands. Secrets d'ateliers Florence Combert, Didier Martens (préface de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : RMN (26 mai 2005) ; ISBN 2-7118-4891-4
  • 2005 : Felice Beato en Chine : Photographier la guerre en 1860 ; Annie-Laure Wanaverbecq (préface de Martine Aubry) ; Publication : Somogy (22 septembre 2005) ; ISBN 2-85056-895-3
  • 2006 : Agir contre les discriminations ; Martine Aubry ; Publication : L'Aube (9 mars 2006) ; ISBN 2-7526-0223-5
  • 2008 : "Et si on se retrouvait..." ; Martine Aubry, Stéphane Paoli, et Jean Viard ; Publication : L'Aube (21 août 2008) ; ISBN 2-7526-0497-1

References

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  1. ^ Martine Aubry BBC
  2. ^ it was there that she met and became friends with Chantal Goya
  3. ^ "Site de la Cité Scolaire Paul Valery / Histoire". Archived from the original on 19 November 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2010. Site of the lycée, citing her as an alumna
  4. ^ Mathieu, Béatrice; Deschamps, Pascale-Marie; Mas, Isabelle; Collomp, Florentin; Steinmann, Lionel (18 December 1997). "Où étaient-ils ?". L'Expansion (in French).
  5. ^ a b Jean-Michel Aphatie et Corinne Lhaik, Une femme ambitieuse Archived 25 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, L'Express, 28 August 1997 (in French)
  6. ^ Cité par François Malye
  7. ^ Pierre Mabut, France : Amiante: manifestation de travailleurs français demandant que justice soit faite contre les empoisonneurs, WSWS amiante, 26 octobre 2005
  8. ^ Newsletter of the Asbestos Institute Archived 20 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ [1] Translation of article by François Malye in Le Point, Sedulia blog
  10. ^ "French Socialist Chief Aubry Seeks Party Backing For 2012 Election", Wall Street Journal (WSJ)[dead link]
  11. ^ "Aubry, bien placée pour Matignon ?". Leparisien.fr. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  12. ^ Samuel, Henry (16 May 2012). "Francois Hollande chooses first cabinet as Martine Aubry is snubbed". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  13. ^ François-Xavier Bourmaud (5 April 2014). "(Martine Aubry à la manœuvre contre Manuel Valls)" [Martine Aubry to maneuver against Manuel Valls]. Le Figaro. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "PS : Aubry demande à Hollande une 'réorientation de la politique économique'" [Aubry asks Hollande a 'reorientation of the economic policy']. Le Parisien. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ^ "(Aubry: "Macron ? Comment vous dire... Ras-le-bol")" [Aubry says: "Macron ? How to tell it... The cup is full"]. Liberation. 3 September 2015.
  16. ^ Gérard Bon (23 January 2017) Aubry et ses proches appellent à voter Hamon Reuters.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training
1991–1993
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Social Affairs
1997–2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Lille
2001–present
Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by First Secretary of the Socialist Party
2008–2012
Succeeded by