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Jean-François Copé

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French politician (born 1964)
Jean-François Copé
Copé in 2015
President of the
Union for a Popular Movement
In office
19 November 2012 – 15 June 2014
Preceded byNicolas Sarkozy
Succeeded byInterim collegial leadership
Alain Juppé
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
François Fillon
Secretary-General of the
Union for a Popular Movement
In office
17 November 2010 – 19 November 2012
Preceded byXavier Bertrand
Succeeded byMichèle Tabarot
Mayor of Meaux
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 December 2005
Preceded byAnge Anziani
In office
19 June 1995 – 20 June 2002
Preceded byJean Lion
Succeeded byAnge Anziani
Minister of the Budget
In office
31 May 2005 – 18 May 2007
Prime MinisterDominique de Villepin
Preceded byDominique Bussereau
Succeeded byÉric Woerth
Member of the National Assembly
for Seine-et-Marne's 6th constituency
In office
26 June 2002 – 20 June 2017
Preceded byNicole Bricq
Succeeded byJean-François Parigi
Personal details
Born (1964-05-05) 5 May 1964 (age 60)
Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine, now Hauts-de-Seine, France
Political partyThe Republicans (2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		Rally for the Republic (before 2002)
Union for a Popular Movement (2002–2015)
Spouses
Valérie Ducuing ​ ​(m. 1991; div. 2007)​
Nadia D'Alincourt ​(m. 2011)​
Children4
Alma materSciences Po
École nationale d'administration
WebsiteOfficial website

Jean-François Copé (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ fʁɑ̃swa kɔpe]; 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—including Minister of the Budget—at the same time. He also served as the member of the National Assembly for the 6th constituency of Seine-et-Marne and president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) group in the National Assembly. In November 2010 he became the party's secretary-general. In August 2012 he announced that he would run for the presidency of the UMP, facing the former Prime Minister François Fillon.

On 19 November 2012 he was elected to the presidency of the UMP with 50.03% of votes from its members, defeating Fillon, who asserted his own victory. He resigned from the post on 27 May 2014 following an invoices scandal and poor results for the UMP at the 2014 European elections.

Personal life

Jean-François Copé was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine, (now Hauts-de-Seine) the son of Professor Roland Copé, a surgeon of Romanian Jewish origin, and Monique Ghanassia, of Algerian Jewish origin. His paternal grandparents were Marcu Hirs Copelovici, a physician born in Iaşi (Romania), and Gisele Lazerovici. His maternal grandparents were Ismael André Ghanassia, a lawyer in Algiers (son of Moïse Ghanassia and Djouhar Soussi, from Miliana, in Algeria), and Lise Boukhabza (granddaughter of a Tunisian rabbi).

Raised in a French Jewish family, he describes himself as "a non-practising Jew" ("Juif non-pratiquant"). He studied at the École Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel, and then at Lycée Victor Duruy, where he obtained his Baccalauréat. In 1985 he entered Sciences Po for two years, before attending the École 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. Divorced, he has four children, François-Xavier, Pierre-Alexis, and Raphaëlla, from his previous marriage, and Faustine, from his current union.

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 in the leading right-wing party at the time, the 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 24 November 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 re-elected in 2001 and 2008. Because of his nomination in the government in 2002, he had to step down in favour 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 5th 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 6th 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.

In November 2010, he became General Secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement. He declared himself a candidate for the presidency of the UMP in August 2012, facing François Fillon, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet and Bruno Le Maire. He was supported by many strong UMP members, such as former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, UMP leader at the National Assembly Christian Jacob and former Minister of Education Luc Chatel.

In September 2012, Copé denounced the development of an anti-White racism by people living in France, sparking a nationwide controversy in media and politics.

On 19 November 2012, Copé declared himself winner of the Union for a Popular Movement leadership election with 50,03% of votes, an assertion that was contradicted by François Fillon who asserted his own victory. In the following days, the crisis amplified with a mutual accusation of fraud.

On 27 February 2014 Le Point magazine accused Copé of using a friend's company as contractor for UMP's events organisation, and overpaying it. Copé rejected the charges, accused the magazine's editor of persecution and sued him. Following UMP's poor results in the 2014 European elections and accusations linked with the Bygmalion invoices scandal, Copé was forced to resign as UMP chairman on 27 May 2014. However, Copé was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the justice.

A candidate to the 2016 Republican primary, he ended last with only 0.3%. He supported Alain Juppé against his former rival François Fillon in the second ballot.

In June 2024, the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation against Jean-François Copé, concerning the use of municipal vehicles for purposes beyond his duties as mayor of Meaux. This investigation followed a report from the anti-corruption association Anticor, in February 2023, for alleged acts of "embezzlement of public funds".

Political career

Governmental functions
  • Secretary of State for Relationships with Parliament and Government's spokesman: 2002–2004.
  • Minister delegated to Interior and Government's spokesman: March–November 2004.
  • Minister of Budget, Budget Reform and Government's spokesman: 2004–2005.
  • Minister of Budget, State Reform and Government's spokesman: 2005–2007.
Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

Regional Council

  • Regional councillor of Île-de-France: 1998–2007 (Resignation). Reelected in 2004.

Municipal Council

  • Mayor of Meaux: 1995–2002 (Resignation) / Since 2005. Reelected in 2001, 2005, 2008.
  • Deputy-mayor of Meaux: 2002–2005.
  • Municipal councillor of Meaux: Since 1995. Reelected in 2001, 2008.

Agglomeration community Council

Political functions

  • Deputy General secretary of the Rally for the Republic: 2001–2002.
  • General Secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2010-2012.
  • Président of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2012-2014.

Bibliography

Books by Jean-François Copé

References

  1. Costey, Laure (5 December 2011). "Jean-François Copé et Nadia d'Alincourt: un amour de jeunesse" [Jean-Francois Cope and Nadia Alincourt: young love]. Gala.fr (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  2. The Times: "Leadership squabble leaves Centre Right on the edge"', 23 November 2012.
  3. Solenn de Royer, Copé, l'homme pressé, l'Archipel, 2010, pp. 118-127.
  4. Ma communauté, c'est la communauté nationale. Tribune juive (France), 15 February 2002
  5. Libération: «Racisme anti-blanc» : Copé persiste et signe, 27 September 2012, retrieved 13 October 2012
  6. Le Figaro: Copé dénonce l'existence d'un «racisme anti-Blanc», 26 September 2012, retrieved 13 October 2012
  7. Le Monde: "Racisme anti-Blancs" : Marine Le Pen dénonce le "cynisme" de Copé, 26 September 2012, retrieved 29 October 2012
  8. Delattre, Mélanie (27 February 2014). "Affaire Copé : des copinages qui coûtent cher à l'UMP". Le Point. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  9. "Copé se dit victime d'une " chasse à l'homme "". Le Monde.fr. Le Monde. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  10. "Copé a porté plainte contre Le Point". Le Figaro. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  11. "UMP leader quits amid €10m scandal". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  12. "Jean-François Copé visé par une enquête préliminaire pour son usage des chauffeurs de la mairie de Meaux". Le Monde. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.

External links

Political offices
Preceded byJean Lion Mayor of Meaux
1995–2002 		Succeeded byAnge Anziani
Preceded byDominique Bussereau Minister of the Budget
2005–2007 		Succeeded byÉric Woerth
Preceded byAnge Anziani Mayor of Meaux
2005–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded byXavier Bertrand Secretary-General of the Union for a Popular Movement
2010–2012 		Succeeded byJean-Claude Gaudin
Acting
Preceded byJean-François Copé
as Secretary-General of the UMP 		Leader of the Union for a Popular Movement
2012–2014 		Succeeded byAlain Juppé, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, François Fillon
interim collegial leadership
Union for a Popular Movement
Predecessors
Presidents
Vice Presidents
Secretaries-General
Presidential candidates
Prime Ministers
Congresses
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