Renaud Muselier (born 6 May 1959) is a French physician and politician who is the President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur since 2017. A former member of The Republicans (LR), he previously was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019.

Renaud Muselier
Muselier in 2010
President of the Regional Council
of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Assumed office
29 May 2017
Preceded byChristian Estrosi
Member of the European Parliament
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
ConstituencySouth-East France
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
17 June 2002 – 31 May 2005
Prime MinisterJean-Pierre Raffarin
Preceded byGeorges Kiejman
(Minister Delegate)
Succeeded byCatherine Colonna
(Minister for European Affairs)
Member of the National Assembly
for Bouches-du-Rhône's 5th constituency
In office
20 June 2007 – 19 June 2012
Preceded byBruno Gilles
Succeeded byMarie-Arlette Carlotti
In office
2 April 1993 – 19 July 2002
Preceded byJanine Écochard
Succeeded byBruno Gilles
Personal details
Born (1959-05-06) 6 May 1959 (age 65)
Marseille, France
Political partyRenaissance (2022–present)
Other political
affiliations
Rally for the Republic (1976–2002)
Union for a Popular Movement (2002–2015)
The Republicans (2015–2021)
ProfessionPhysician

Early life and education

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A native of Marseille, Muselier is the grandson of Admiral Émile Muselier. He is the nephew of the Queen Geraldine of Albania (née Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi), wife of the last King of Albania, Zog I, deposed by the Italians in 1939.

Political career

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Muselier was the member of the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille – Notre-Dame-du-Mont from 1992 to 1995, as well as a member of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur from 2004 to 2007. He was Deputy Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2008 under the mayorship of Jean-Claude Gaudin.

Early career in national politics

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Muselier was a member of the National Assembly of France for the 5th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1993 to 2002. During that time, her served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs.[1]

From 2002 to 2005,[2] Muselier served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,[3] under the leadership of successive ministers Dominique de Villepin and Michel Barnier.

Following the 2007 legislative election, Muselier re-joined the National Assembly, serving on its Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012.[4]

Muselier was reelected of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in 2015 and became its first vice-president under the presidency of Christian Estrosi.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019

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Muselier became a Member of the European Parliament following the 2014 European election. Throughout his term, he served on the Committee on Transport and Tourism. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the Parliament's delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

In the 2016 The Republicans presidential primary, Muselier endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy as the party's candidate for the office of President of France.[5]

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 2017–present

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On 29 May 2017, Muselier was elected President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, succeeding Christian Estrosi, who returned as Mayor of Nice.

Muselier announced his intention to run for reelection on a joint ticket with La République En Marche! (LREM) in 2021, under an agreement brokered by Prime Minister Jean Castex.[6] However, this led to the resignation of Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi and Toulon Mayor Hubert Falco from The Republicans a few days later. LREM politician Sophie Cluzel subsequently announced she would lead a list herself, thus terminating the joint ticket agreement, before backtracking and announcing the agreement would be upheld.[7] Muselier ultimately received 57.3 percent of the vote, against 42.7 percent for National Rally candidate Thierry Mariani.[8]

Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Muselier publicly declared his support for Xavier Bertrand as the Republicans’ candidate.[9] Shortly after, he announced his decision to leave the Republicans, accusing fellow party member Éric Ciotti of "conveying the ideas of Éric Zemmour within LR", after Ciotti stated he would vote for Zemmour in a hypothetical run-off against Macron.[10]

Other activities

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References

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  1. ^ Renaud Muselier National Assembly.
  2. ^ UN rights commission resumesunder fire The New York Times, 16 March 2005.
  3. ^ Frey, Rebecca Joyce (June 2009). Genocide and international justice. Infobase Publishing. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8160-7310-8.
  4. ^ Renaud Muselier National Assembly.
  5. ^ Ludovic Vigogne (20 April 2016), Bataillons: Primaire à droite: la liste des premiers soutiens parlementaires L'Opinion.
  6. ^ Clea Caulcutt (4 May 2021), French conservatives reeling after Macron’s kiss of death Politico Europe.
  7. ^ Loris Boichot (7 May 2021), Régionales en Paca: la secrétaire d'État Sophie Cluzel sera finalement tête de liste LREM, Le Figaro.
  8. ^ Clea Caulcutt (27 June 2021), Marine Le Pen fails to make gains in French local elections Politico Europe.
  9. ^ Pierrer Maurer (29 October 2021), Renaud Muselier : «Je soutiens Xavier Bertrand pour le Congrès des Républicains» Le Figaro.
  10. ^ Pierrer Maurer (29 October 2021), Renaud Muselier : «Je soutiens Xavier Bertrand pour le Congrès des Républicains» Le Figaro.
  11. ^ Board of Directors Chorégies d'Orange.
  12. ^ Thierry Lévêque (2 September 2011) Renaud Muselier à l'Institut du monde arabe, le PS proteste Reuters.
  13. ^ Board of Directors Rencontres d'Arles.