Jean-François Copé

Infobox AM
name =Jean-François Copé


caption =
constituency_AM =Seine-et-Marne (6th constituency)
assembly =French National
majority =
term_start =26 June 2002
term_end =
predecessor =Nicole Bricq
successor =
office2 =Minister of the Budget
term_start2 =31 May 2005
term_end2 =18 May 2007
predecessor2 =Dominique Bussereau
successor2 =Eric Woerth
office3 =Mayor of Meaux
term_start3 =1995
term_end3 =2002
predecessor3 =Jean Lion
successor3 =Ange Anziani
office4 =Mayor of Meaux
term_start4 =2005
term_end4 =
predecessor4 =Ange Anziani
successor4 =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1965|5|5|df=y
birth_place =Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine-et-Marne
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =French
party =Union for a Popular Movement
profession =Economist, Lawyer
website =http://www.generationfrance.fr/

Jean-François Copé (born May 5 1964), is a French politician. He is currently Mayor of Meaux, Deputy ("Député") for the 6^th constituency of Seine-et-Marne, and acts as President of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) Group in the French National Assembly. He was appointed Spokesperson for the French Government between 2002 and 2007, and assumed other tenures in the government - including Minister of the Budget - in the same time frame.

Life

Jean-François Copé, born in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts de Seine), is the son of Professor Roland Copé, a surgeon, and Monique Ghanassia. Raised in a Jewish family, he describes himself as "a non-pacticing Jew" ("Juif non pratiquant"). ["Tribune juive (France)", February 15 2002] citation|Ma communauté, c'est la communauté nationale. He studied at EABJM, and then at Lycée Victor Duruy, where he obtained his Baccalauréat. In 1985, he entered Science-Po for 2 years, before attending the Ecole nationale d'administration, from which he graduated in 1989. He followed training seminars on New Public Management in the United States, and he is a proponent of Benchmarking on budget matters. He has been married with Valérie Ducuing, counsel in public relations, since June 1 1991. They have 3 children : François-Xavier, Pierre-Alexis and Raphaëla.

Career

Following his graduation in 1989, he joined the Caisse des dépôts et consignations until 1991. He then worked as head of cabinet for the CEO at Dexia, while teaching Local Economy and Finance at Science-Po. He left those attributions in 1993, to get involved within RPR.

In 1997, he came back to teaching as an Associate Professor of Economy and Finance at Paris 8 University, up until 2002. He also returned to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations between 1997 and 1999, before joining the supervisory board of Dexia from 2000 to 2002.

Political functions

After serving in various political roles in the RPR and the Balladur government, he became spokesperson for the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in 2002. On November 24 2004, he became Minister of the Budget and spokesperson for the government in the Raffarin III government; he was renewed in this function in the following Villepin government. Following the 2007 parliamentary election, he became leader of the UMP parliamentary group in the 13th Legislature.

In 1995, he became Mayor of Meaux at 35, and was reelected in 2001 and 2008. Because of his nomination in the government in 2002, he had to step down in favor of Ange Anziani. Nonetheless, he took back the office in 2005 after Anziani's resignation. He was also regional councillor of Ile-de-France from 1998 to 2007 and was list leader of the UMP-UDF in Ile-de-France in the 2004 regional elections.

He became deputy of the 5^th constituency of Seine-et-Marne in 1995, following the nomination of the incumbent to the Juppé government. However, he was defeated in 1997 by a Socialist candidate in a difficult RPR-PS-FN three-way second round race. In 2002, he was elected in the 6^th constituency. He was re-elected there by the first round in 2007, becoming President of the UMP Group in the French National Assembly at the same time.

Bibliography

Books by Jean-François Copé

* 1990 : "Finances locales" - Economica (Reissued in 1993 (ISBN 978-2717825688), and with François Werner in 1997 (ISBN 978-2717833034))
* 1999 : "Ce que je n'ai pas appris à l'ENA. L'aventure d'un maire" – Hachette Littératures. ISBN 978-2012354777.
* 2002 : "Devoir d'inventaire. Le dépôt de bilan de Lionel Jospin" - Éditions Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2226133144.
* 2006 : "Promis, j'arrête la langue de bois" - Hachette Littératures. ISBN 978-2012359437.

References