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Stéphane Séjourné

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Stéphane Séjourné
Séjourné in 2024
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
In office
11 January 2024 – 21 September 2024
Prime MinisterGabriel Attal
Preceded byCatherine Colonna
Succeeded byJean-Noël Barrot
General Secretary of Renaissance
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 September 2022
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Preceded byStanislas Guerini (as Executive Officer)
Leader of Renew Europe
In office
19 October 2021 – 11 January 2024
Preceded byDacian Cioloș
Succeeded byValérie Hayer
Member of the National Assembly
for Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2024
Preceded byEmmanuel Pellerin
Member of the European Parliament
for France
In office
2 July 2019 – 11 January 2024
Succeeded byGuy Lavocat
Personal details
Born (1985-03-26) 26 March 1985 (age 39)
Versailles, France
Political partyRenaissance (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Party (2001–2016)
Domestic partnerGabriel Attal (2015–2022)
Alma materUniversity of Poitiers

Stéphane Séjourné (French pronunciation: [stefan seʒuʁne]; born 26 March 1985) is a French politician of Renaissance who served as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal between January and September 2024.

Séjourné was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2019, where he led Renew Europe, a liberal pro-European parliamentary group, from 2021 to 2024.[1] He was an adviser to Emmanuel Macron during his ministerial tenure and advised him during his 2017 French presidential election campaign.[2] In 2022, he became general secretary of Renaissance.

Early life and education

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Born in Versailles,[3] Séjourné grew up in Madrid and Buenos Aires and later did an Erasmus exchange program in Granada.[4][3]

Early career

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After working in the office of Jean-Paul Huchon at the Regional Council of Île-de-France from 2012 to 2014, Séjourné became an adviser to Minister of the Economy and Finance Emmanuel Macron.[4]

When Macron became president in the 2017 elections, Séjourné came along as a political adviser, working alongside Alexis Kohler and Ismaël Emelien.[2] He then took a six-month-long leave of absence to lead LREM’s campaign for the 2019 European elections.[4]

Political career

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Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2024

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Since entering parliament, Séjourné has been serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs (2019–2022), the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (2020–2022)[5] and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (since 2022).

In addition to his committee assignments, Séjourné is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with Mercosur and the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital,[6] the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights,[7] the MEPs Against Cancer group[8] and the European Internet Forum.[9]

Following the resignation of Dacian Cioloş in 2021, Séjourné announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.[10]

In May 2022, Séjourné – together with Patrick Mignola for the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and Gilles Boyer for Horizons – negotiated the agreement leading to the creation of Ensemble, a coalition of the parties forming the presidential majority, including on the financial distribution between them.[11]

At the September 2022 convention of Renaissance, Séjourné was the only candidate in the running to succeed the party’s chair Stanislas Guerini and was elected as new leader.[12]

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2024

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Séjourné with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in February 2024

On 11 January 2024, Séjourné was appointed minister of Europe and foreign affairs in Gabriel Attal's government.[13] His first official trip abroad was to Germany for a meeting with his counterpart Annalena Baerbock.[14] Séjourné criticized South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel, saying "To accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold."[15]

The same year, Séjourné stood for election in Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency, taking a 46 percent plurality in the initial round, and was elected with 72.6 percent in the runoff.[16]

European Commission, 2024–2029

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Following Thierry Breton's resignation, Séjourné was announced as the next candidate for the French post in the Von der Leyen Commission II.[17]

Political positions

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Séjourné is considered a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron.[18]

In an article published by Le Journal du Dimanche in February 2021, Séjourné opposed the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).[19]

On 12 November 2023, he took part in the March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism in Paris in response to the rise of anti-Semitism in France since the start of the Israel–Hamas war.[20]

In 2024, Séjourné committed not to work with the far-right in the next European Parliament and refused to align with the nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.[21]

Personal life

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Séjourné is gay and was in a civil union (PACS) with Gabriel Attal,[22][23][24] a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France in 2024.[25] The relationship had ended by 2022.[26] He has stated that he suffers from very severe dyslexia since youth.[27]

References

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  1. ^ CAZENAVE, Fabien (27 May 2019). "Parlement européen. Qui sont les 79 eurodéputés élus en France ?". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Nathalie Segaunes (21 July 2017), Pépinières: la «bande de Poitiers», du MJS à l’Assemblée nationale L'Opinion.
  3. ^ a b Olivier Beaumont and Pauline Théveniaud (11 March 2019), LREM : Stéphane Séjourné, un pilote en campagne pour les européennes Le Parisien.
  4. ^ a b c Maïa de La Baume (25 October 2021), Macron’s man in Brussels takes control of the liberals Politico Europe.
  5. ^ Members of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age European Parliament, press release of July 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital European Parliament.
  7. ^ Intergroup on Children’s Rights European Parliament.
  8. ^ MAC MEPs in the 2019-24 legislature MEPs Against Cancer.
  9. ^ Members European Internet Forum.
  10. ^ Hans von der Burchard and Maïa de La Baume (October 6, 2021), Macron ally Séjourné announces bid to lead centrist Renew Europe Politico Europe.
  11. ^ Matthieu Deprieck (12 May 2022), Occupé à Bruxelles, Stéphane Séjourné revient dans le jeu à Paris L'Opinion.
  12. ^ Le parti de la majorité devient officiellement Renaissance et élit Stéphane Séjourné à sa tête Le Monde, 17 September 2022.
  13. ^ "French PM Attal's new cabinet maintains key defence, interior ministers". France24. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  14. ^ Emmanuel Grasland (14 January 2024), A Berlin, Stéphane Séjourné célèbre le tandem franco-allemand Les Echos.
  15. ^ "France Rejects Genocide Accusations Against Israel in Gaza". The New York Times. 17 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Second round results in Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency". Le Monde. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Stéphane Séjourné to replace Thierry Breton as France's nominee for European commissioner". POLITICO. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024. Outgoing French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné will replace Thierry Breton as France's nominee for European commissioner, the Elysée said in a statement.
  18. ^ Cédric Pietralunga and Alexandre Lemarié (October 20, 2017), La République en marche: Les snipers de la Macronie Le Monde.
  19. ^ Stéphane Séjourné, eurodéputé LREM : "Pourquoi je ne voterai pas l'accord Europe-Chine" Le Journal du Dimanche, 13 February 2021.
  20. ^ Bajos, Par Sandrine; Balle, Catherine; Bérard, Christophe; Berrod, Nicolas; Bureau, Éric; Choulet, Frédéric; Collet, Emeline; Souza, Pascale De; Doukhan, David (11 November 2023). "Marche contre l'antisémitisme : François Hollande, Marylise Léon, Agnès Jaoui... pourquoi ils s'engagent". leparisien.fr (in French). {{cite web}}: |last5= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ Eddy Wax (9 January 2024), EU liberal leader rules out right-wing alliance post-EU election Politico Europe.
  22. ^ Biseau, Grégoire (31 October 2021). "Stéphane Séjourné et Gabriel Attal, un couple au cœur du pouvoir". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
  23. ^ Girard, Quentin (23 April 2019). "Gabriel Attal, de ses propres zèles". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Juan Branco a-t-il une "haine quasi-obsessionnelle" à l'endroit de Benjamin Griveaux?". Radio France Internationale (in French). 18 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  25. ^ Sidoinec (5 January 2019). "Les révélations de Juan Branco sur Gabriel Attal et Stéphane Séjourné". Club de Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  26. ^ "Who is Gabriel Attal, France's new prime minister?". POLITICO. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  27. ^ "« Cela n'a aucune implication » sur mon travail : Stéphane Séjourné se confie sur sa dyslexie". lejdd.fr (in French). 21 January 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
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Preceded by Leader of Renew Europe
2021–2024 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
2024 		Succeeded by
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