99th Prime Minister of France
Bernard Guy Georges Cazeneuve
(
French pronunciation:
[b??na?
kaznœv]
; born 2 June 1963) is a French politician and lawyer who served as
Prime Minister of France
from 6 December 2016 to 15 May 2017. A member of the
Socialist Party
, he represented
Manche
’s 5th constituency in the
National Assembly
from
1997
to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2012. On 4 May 2022, following the Socialist Party's
electoral coalition agreement
with the leftist
La France Insoumise
, he left the Socialist Party because he felt La France Insoumise did not match the values and morals of the Socialist Party.
[1]
He was Mayor of
Cherbourg-Octeville
from
2001
to 2012. In 2012, he was appointed
Minister delegate for European Affairs
in the
Ayrault government
. A year later, Cazeneuve was named
Minister delegate for the Budget
after the resignation of
Jerome Cahuzac
. In 2014, he was appointed
Minister of the Interior
in the
First Valls government
, a role he retained with the formation of the
Second Valls government
. In 2016, Cazeneuve was appointed Prime Minister by President
Francois Hollande
, after
Manuel Valls
resigned to concentrate on his candidacy for the
2017 presidential election
. Following the election of
Emmanuel Macron
as
President of the French Republic
, Cazeneuve resigned from office and returned to private practice.
Education and private career
[
edit
]
Bernard Cazeneuve was born on 2 June 1963 in
Senlis
,
Oise
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
His father was the head of the
Socialist Party
in Oise, which gave him the opportunity to attend a meeting with
Francois Mitterrand
. During his studies at the
Institut d'etudes politiques de Bordeaux
,
[4]
he led the
Young Radicals of the Left
movement in the
Gironde
department. After graduating from the IEP de Bordeaux, he joined the Socialist Party.
Cazeneuve began his career as a legal adviser in
Groupe Banque Populaire
, before starting in politics. In 1991, he became a councillor in the cabinet of
Thierry de Beauce
, Secretary of State for International Cultural Relations, then in 1992,
Principal Private Secretary
for Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Alain Vivien
.
[4]
In 1993, he was appointed
Principal Private Secretary
in the cabinet of Charles Josselin,
Secretary of State for the Sea
.
[4]
That same year, he was named Secretary General of the Council on Boating and Nautical Sports.
[4]
Early political career
[
edit
]
Member of the National Assembly for Manche
[
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]
First term (1997?2002)
[
edit
]
Rising in the
Socialist Party
, Cazeneuve moved in 1994 to
Octeville
in Manche department to put an end to local divisions in party politics, which had led to a loss of the mayor's office in 1989. That same year, he was elected
General Councillor
. He held the position in the Manche department from 1994 to 1998.
[2]
He was later elected mayor of
Octeville
where he served from 1995 to 2000.
[2]
[4]
In 1997, he was elected to the
National Assembly
representing the
5th constituency
of
Manche
,
[5]
campaigning on the issue of a "Greater Cherbourg", which would combine the six
communes
of the
Cherbourg
urban agglomeration. This issue went to referendum; it led to the combination of two communes, Cherbourg and Octeville.
Second term (2007?2012)
[
edit
]
In 2007, Cazeneuve represented the Socialist Party in the
legislative election
for the
5th Constituency
of
Manche
, defeating
UMP
candidate
Jean Lemiere
with 58.96% of the vote. After this victory he resigned from his position with the
Regional Council
of
Lower Normandy
. Then, facing divided opposition from the right in the
2008 municipal elections
, he retained his position as mayor of
Cherbourg-Octeville
. In his second term as mayor, he campaigned to promote the maritime character of the city, organising a nautical festival that featured an international sailing competition. He also focused on urban renewal of the Bassins and Provinces quarters of
Cherbourg-Octeville
, bringing together commercial and cultural projects.
On the national level, he represented the victims of the
2002 Karachi bus bombing
, who were mostly from
Cotentin
, against their employer
DCNS
. As Secretary of the Commission on National Defense in the
National Assembly
, he was recorder between November 2009 and May 2010 of the Parliamentary inquiry into the Karachi attack. Due to the lack of government transparency regarding the Karachi case, Cazeneuve wrote a book titled
Karachi, the impossible investigation
.
After supporting no candidate in the
2011 Socialist Party presidential primary
, he was named as one of candidate
Francois Hollande
's four spokespersons. He spoke to the media on issues related to industry and nuclear power, particularly the latter due to his role in not postponing the construction of a new reactor at the
Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant
and the reprocessing of nuclear waste at the
La Hague site
.
Mayor of Cherbourg-Octeville
[
edit
]
Cazeneuve was elected to head the new commune of
Cherbourg-Octeville
in 2001,
[4]
succeeding
Jean-Pierre Godefroy
and defeating the
Rally for the Republic
(RPR) candidate Jean Lemiere. His political ascent was interrupted by a defeat for reelection to his seat in the
National Assembly
in the
2002 elections
.
At the same time, he pursued a judicial career, being named a judge to the
High Court
and
Cour de Justice de la Republique
during his term as a member of the
National Assembly
. He was called to the bar of
Cherbourg-Octeville
in 2003.
In 2004,
Francois Hollande
convinced Cazeneuve to join the
Socialist Party
electoral list for the
2004 regional elections
, representing the
Manche
department in the Regional Council of
Lower Normandy
, after
Jean-Pierre Godefroy
withdrew from consideration. His strong favour for nuclear energy, particularly the construction of a new
nuclear reactor
on the
Cotentin
, caused a rift between the Socialist Party and
The Greens
, who allied with the
Radical Party of the Left
in the first round of the regional election. After the victory of the Socialist Party, led by
Philippe Duron
, Cazeneuve was appointed first Vice-President of the
Regional Council
and President of the Regional Norman Tourism Committee, comprising the
regions
of
Upper
and
Lower Normandy
.
In 2005 he supported the "no" vote on the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
. Between 2006 and 2008 Cazeneuve worked for a Paris law firm, August & Debouzy, in their "Public, Regulation, and Competition" practice.
Presidency of Francois Hollande
[
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]
Minister delegate for European Affairs
[
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]
Mentioned as a potential minister, notably for the
Defense
portfolio, he was named on 16 May 2012 as Minister delegate for European Affairs, serving under
Laurent Fabius
in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
.
In the
2012 legislative elections
he was re-elected to the
National Assembly
in the newly redrawn 4th
Constituency
of
Manche
, with
Genevieve Gosselin
, the deputy mayor of
Cherbourg-Octeville
, as his alternate. He won the election in June with 55.39% of the vote, but had to resign to assume his post in the new government, leading to Gosselin becoming the new deputy to the
National Assembly
. He also resigned as mayor of
Cherbourg-Octeville
, with the position being taken by
Jean-Michel Houllegatte
. As minister, he was tasked with defending the 2012
European Fiscal Compact
to Socialist deputies in the
National Assembly
.
Minister delegate for the Budget
[
edit
]
On 19 March 2013, he was named
Minister delegate for the Budget
after the resignation of
Jerome Cahuzac
, who was accused of fraud. He was replaced as Junior Minister for European Affairs by
Thierry Repentin
, formerly Minister of State for Professional Training and Apprenticeship. He affirmed a policy of reducing the
deficit
to save 5 billion euros from the national budget for 2014. He intervened personally in the
National Assembly
to bury an amendment enlarging the tax base for a proposed tax on transactions for
high frequency trading
, one of
Francois Hollande
's campaign promises. He also proposed an amendment to increase the
value added tax
on equestrian activities from 7% to 20%, called the "equitax", which encountered strong opposition from professionals and amateurs in the equestrian world.
Minister of the Interior
[
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]
On 2 April 2014, Cazeneuve was named Minister of the Interior in the
First Valls Government
. In January 2015, he directed the response to the
Ile-de-France attacks
.
During a vote on a counter-terrorism law, he proposed an amendment that would give authority to demand that search engines de-list certain website without the approval of a judge. In July 2015, he proposed a reform to the rights of foreigners in France, which would fundamentally change policies concerning entry and length of stay.
As a spokesman for France after 18 November 2015 killing of the suspected mastermind of the terrorists responsible for the
November 2015 Paris attacks
, Cazeneuve told the press that
Abdelhamid Abaaoud
, a Moroccan who was a Belgian national who had visited Syria, "played a decisive role" in the Paris attacks and played a part in four of six terror attacks foiled since spring, with one alleged jihadist claiming Abaaoud had trained him personally.
[6]
Cazeneuve said that he would be meeting with EU ministers on 20 November in Brussels to discuss how to deal with terrorism across the territory because "cooperation in the fight against terrorism is crucial" in the European Union. "We have to move quickly and strongly. Europe must do it while thinking about the victims of terrorism and their loved ones."
[7]
Reports after that meeting indicated that all EU citizens entering or leaving the free-travel area, known as Schengen, should undergo "systematic" screening against pan-European databases. "Terrorists are crossing the borders of the European Union", said Cazeneuve. Indeed, all of the known Paris attackers were EU nationals, who crossed borders without difficulty although they were registered as terrorism suspects, according to
The Guardian
. Cazeneuve, said the clampdown on borders would take effect immediately. This would be on a temporary basis until the European commission modified the Schengen rules to make the new borders regime mandatory and obligatory; that could take months to enact.
[8]
Prime Minister of France
[
edit
]
Valls announced on 6 December 2016 that, as the likely candidate for the Socialist Party in the
presidential election
, he would resign to concentrate on campaigning.
[9]
Cazeneuve was appointed by outgoing President Hollande to replace Valls.
[9]
[10]
The appointment was considered difficult, since it resulted in a change of leadership in the Interior Ministry at a time when the
French terror alert
was at its highest level.
[11]
Cazeneuve officially resigned on 10 May, after the official announcement of the results of the presidential election.
[12]
His tenure as Prime Minister, at five months and four days, is the shortest in the history of the Fifth Republic. He was replaced by
Edouard Philippe
, nominated by new President
Emmanuel Macron
.
Later career
[
edit
]
After leaving Matignon, he returned to his private law practice. In 2022, he resigned from the Socialist Party over leader
Olivier Faure's
agreement to run a joint electoral list with
Jean-Luc Melenchon's
La France Insoumise
, known as the
Nouvelle Union populaire ecologique et sociale
(New People's Ecologic and Social Union, or NUPES), feeling that Melenchon's party and traditional French social democracy were incompatible.
[1]
In September 2022, he wrote a manifesto calling for a "social-democratic, republican, humanist and ecological left," away from Melenchon and NUPES.
[13]
It was signed by 400 current and former members of the Socialist Party. In early 2023, he announced "La Convention" (The Convention), a political movement espousing those values.
[14]
It held its first meeting on 10 June 2023, where Cazeneuve was joined by Francois Hollande, as well as former
Social Democratic Party of Germany
leader
Martin Schulz
and former
Italian Democratic Party
and Prime Minister leader
Enrico Letta
.
Other activities
[
edit
]
- Fight Impunity, Member of the Honorary Board (?2022)
[15]
[16]
Personal life
[
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]
Cazeneuve has a wife, Veronique, and two children.
[17]
The couple divorced but remarried on 12 August 2015 in
Aiguines
.
[17]
She is an editor at Editions A dos d'ane, a publisher of
young adult fiction
.
[18]
They reside in
Domaine du Lys-Chantilly
, a tree-lined community in
Oise
not far from Paris.
[19]
He was a business lawyer from 2006 to 2008.
[2]
Works
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
"Former PM Bernard Cazeneuve to leave Parti Socialiste after deal struck with LFI"
.
Le Monde.fr
. 4 May 2022
. Retrieved
11 June
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Prime Minister"
.
Gouvernement.fr
.
Archived
from the original on 30 April 2020
. Retrieved
13 April
2017
.
- ^
"France's new prime minister is Bernard Cazeneuve"
.
French Embassy in South Africa | Ambassade de France en Afrique du Sud
. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2017
. Retrieved
13 April
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Bernard Cazeneuve"
.
gouvernement.fr
.
Archived
from the original on 8 December 2016
. Retrieved
17 January
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"M. Bernard Cazeneuve"
.
National Assembly
.
Archived
from the original on 9 May 2020
. Retrieved
17 January
2017
.
- ^
Botelho, Greg; Shoichet, Catherine E. (20 November 2015).
"Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud dead"
.
CNN US Edition
. Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Archived
from the original on 19 November 2015
. Retrieved
20 November
2015
.
- ^
Bloomberg and Associated Press (19 November 2015).
"Paris attacks suspected mastermind killed in Saint-Denis raids"
.
Toronto Star
.
Archived
from the original on 19 November 2015
. Retrieved
19 November
2015
.
- ^
Traynor, Ian (20 November 2015).
"EU ministers order tighter border checks in response to Paris attacks"
.
The Guardian
. London, England.
Archived
from the original on 20 November 2015
. Retrieved
20 November
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"France: Bernard Cazeneuve is named new PM"
. Euronews. 6 December 2016.
Archived
from the original on 7 December 2016
. Retrieved
6 December
2016
.
- ^
"Bernard Cazeneuve nomme Premier ministre"
.
Le Monde.fr
. 6 December 2016.
Archived
from the original on 20 July 2018
. Retrieved
6 December
2016
.
- ^
"Hollande names Bernard Cazeneuve as new Prime Minister"
.
The Local
. 6 December 2016.
Archived
from the original on 6 December 2016
. Retrieved
6 December
2016
.
- ^
"Le gouvernement de Cazeneuve demissionne officiellement"
.
Le Point
. Agence France-Presse. 10 May 2017.
Archived
from the original on 20 August 2017
. Retrieved
11 May
2017
.
- ^
"Le manifeste de Bernard Cazeneuve pour une gauche sociale-democrate, republicaine, humaniste et ecologique"
.
lejdd.fr
(in French). 3 September 2022
. Retrieved
11 June
2023
.
- ^
"Bernard Cazeneuve lance un " mouvement " pour federer la gauche hostile a la Nupes"
.
Le Monde.fr
(in French). 1 February 2023
. Retrieved
11 June
2023
.
- ^
Honorary Board
Archived
7 April 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
Fight Impunity.
- ^
Sarah Wheaton and Vincent Manancourt (11 December 2022),
Big names bail from NGO caught up in EU Parliament graft scandal
Politico Europe
.
- ^
a
b
Costey, Laure (17 September 2015).
"Bernard Cazeneuve, s'est remarie avec son ex-epouse"
.
Gala
.
Archived
from the original on 20 December 2016
. Retrieved
6 December
2016
.
- ^
"Veronique Cazeneuve"
.
Voici
.
Archived
from the original on 20 December 2016
. Retrieved
6 December
2016
.
- ^
Lasry-Segura, Edith (13 March 2017).
"Au Lys-Chantilly, ce " ghetto des riches " ou Francois Fillon s'impose"
.
Le Parisien
.
Archived
from the original on 15 March 2017
. Retrieved
14 March
2017
.
Le domaine, presente comme un " ghetto de riches ", compte quelques personnalites parmi ses habitants. Comme le fondateur de Free, Xavier Niel, ou le Premier ministre Bernard Cazeneuve.
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