Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron born 21 December 1977) is a French politician, senior civil
servant, and former investment banker. Born in Amiens, he studied
Philosophy at Paris Nanterre University, completed a
Master's of Public Affairs at Sciences
Po, and later graduated from the École nationale d'administration
(ENA) in 2004. He went on to become an Inspector of Finances in the Inspectorate General of
Finances (IGF) before becoming an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque.
A member of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2006 to 2009, he
was designated deputy secretary-general under François Hollande's first government in 2012
before being appointed Minister of
Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in 2014 under the Second Valls Government,[2]
where he pushed through business-friendly reforms. He resigned in August 2016[3]
in order to launch a bid in the 2017 presidential election.[4]
In November 2016, Macron declared that he would run in the election under the
banner of En Marche!, a centrist[5]
movement he founded in April 2016.
Early
life and education
Born in Amiens, Emmanuel
Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is the son of Jean-Michel Macron, Professor of neurology at
the University of Picardy, and Françoise
Macron-Noguès, a physician.
He was educated mostly at the
Jésuites de la Providence[6] lycée in Amiens[7]
before his parents sent him to finish his last year of school[8]
at the élite
high school Lycée
Henri-IV in Paris. He studied Philosophy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense,
obtaining a DEA degree.
He obtained a master's degree in
public affairs at Sciences Po, before training
for a senior civil service career at the École nationale d'administration
(ENA), graduating in 2004.[9]
Professional
career
Macron worked as an Inspector of Finances in the
French Ministry of Economy between 2004 and 2008. In 2007, he served as
deputy rapporteur for the Commission to improve French growth headed by Jacques
Attali.[7]
Macron paid €50,000 to buy himself out of his government contract in 2008,[10]
and left to work as an investment banker at a highly-paid position at Rothschild & Cie Banque.[11]
Macron was a member of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2006 to 2009. In
2015, he stated that he was no longer a member of the PS and was now an
Independent.[12]
From 2012 to 2014, he served as deputy secretary-general of the Élysée,
a senior role in President Hollande's staff.[9]
He was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital
Data in the second Valls Cabinet on 26 August 2014, replacing Arnaud
Montebourg.[2]
As Minister of the Economy, Macron
was at the forefront of pushing through business-friendly reforms. On 17
February 2015, prime minister Manuel
Valls pushed Macron's signature law package through a reluctant parliament
using the special 49.3 procedure.[13]
2017
French presidential bid
On 30 August 2016, Macron resigned
from the government ahead of the 2017 presidential election.[4]
This came shortly after he founded his own progressive[14][15]
political movement, En Marche!, an independent political party, for
which he was reprimanded by President Hollande.[16]
Macron founded En Marche! in Amiens, the city of his birth.[citation needed]
On 16 November 2016, Macron formally
declared his candidacy for the French presidency after months of speculation.
In his announcement speech, Macron called for a "democratic
revolution" and promised to "unblock France".[17]
Macron attracted criticism for the
time taken to out a formal program during his campaign; despite declaring in
November, he had still not released a complete set of proposals by February,
attracting both attacks from critics and concern among allies and supporters.[18]
He eventually laid out his 150-page formal program on 2 March, publishing it
online and discussing it at a marathon press conference that day.[19]
Macron accumulated a wide array of
supporters, securing endorsements from François Bayrou of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the ecologist candidate François de Rugy of the primary of the left,
and Socialist MP Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of En Marche!,
as well as numerous others – many of them from the Socialist Party, but also a
significant number of centrist and centre-right politicians.[20]
Political
positions
Macron has been described by some
observers as a social liberal[21][22][23][24][25]
and by others as a social democrat.[26][27][28]
During his time in the French Socialist Party, he supported the
party's right wing,[29]
whose political stance has been associated with "third way"
policies advanced by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair
and Gerhard Schröder, and whose leading spokesman has
been former prime minister Manuel Valls.[30][31][32][33]
Economy
Macron has notably advocated in
favor of the free market and reducing the public-finances deficit.[34]
He first publicly used the term "liberal" to describe himself in a
2015 interview with Le Monde. He added that he is "neither right nor
left" and that he advocates "a collective solidarity."[35][36]
During a visit to the Vendée in August 2016, he stated, "Honesty compels me to
say that I am not a socialist." He explained that he was part of the
"left government" because he wanted "to serve the public
interest" as any minister would.[37]
In his book Revolution, published in November 2016, Macron presents
himself as both a "leftist" and a "liberal ... if by liberalism
one means trust in man."[38]
With his party En Marche!, Macron's stated aim is to transcend the
left-right divide in a manner similar to François Bayrou or Jacques Chaban-Delmas, asserting that
"the real divide in our country ... is between progressives and
conservatives." With the launch of his independent candidacy and his use
of anti-establishment rhetoric, Macron has been labelled a "populist"
by some observers, notably Manuel Valls, but Macron rejects this term.[39][40]
He supports the Comprehensive Economic and
Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union,[41]
criticizing the Walloon government for trying to block it. He
believes that CETA should not be validated by national parliaments because
"it undermines the EU".[42]
Regarding the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP), Macron stated in June 2016 that "the
conditions [to sign the treaty] are not met", adding that "we mustn't
close the door entirely" and "need a strong link with the US".[43]
In April 2017, Macron called for a
“rebalancing” of Germany’s
trade surplus, saying that
“Germany benefits from the imbalances within the euro zone and achieves very
high trade surpluses.”[44]
Foreign
policy
Macron controversially described France's
colonization of Algeria as a "crime against humanity" in an
interview with local media.[45]
He also said: "It’s truly barbarous and it’s part of a past that we need
to confront by apologising to those against whom we committed these acts."[46]
This position was followed by a decrease in Macron's polling.[47]
Macron was in 2012 a Young Leader
with the French-American Foundation, a
pro-American organisation founded in the 1970s by two US members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
He says France needs a more
"balanced" policy toward Syria, including talks with Bashar Assad.[48]
However on April 2017, Macron proposed possible military intervention against
Assad regime.[49]
He supports the continuation of
President Hollande's policies on Israel, also opposes the BDS movement, and has refused to
state a position on recognition of the State of Palestine.[50]
European
Union
Emmanuel Macron was described by
some as europhile[51][52]
and federalist[53][54]
but he describes himself as "neither pro-european, eurosceptic nor a
federalist in the classical sense",[55]
and his party as "the only pro-european political force in France".[56]
In June 2015, Macron and his German counterpart Sigmar
Gabriel published a platform advocating a continuation of European
integration. They advocate the continuation "of structural reforms (like
labor market), institutional reforms (including the area of economic
governance)",[57]
but also a reconciliation of 'tax and social systems (like better coordination
or harmonization of the corporate taxes via, for example, minimum wages)".
He also advocates the creation of a post of the EU Commissioner that would be
responsible for the Eurozone and Eurozone's Parliament and a common budget.[58]
In addition, Macron stated: "I'm in favor of strengthening anti-dumping measures which have to be faster
and more powerful like those in the United States. We also need to establish a
monitoring of foreign investments in strategic sectors at the EU level in order
to protect a vital industry and to ensure our sovereignty and the European superiority."[35]
In July 2015, while challenging the
"loaded question" of the 2015 Greek referendum, Macron called
not to cause "automatic ejection" of Greece from the eurozone and
"not doing the Versailles Treaty of eurozone" in which case
"no" side won. He believed that the Greek and European leaders
co-produced the Greek government-debt crisis,[59]
and that the agreement reached in summer 2015 between Greece and its creditors,
notably driven by François Hollande, won't help Greece in dealing
with the debt, while at the same time criticizing the International Monetary Fund.[60]
In June 2016, he criticized the austerity policies imposed on Greece,
considering them to be unsustainable and calling for the joint establishment of
"fiscal and financial solidarity mechanisms" and a mechanism for
restructuring the debt of eurozone member states.[60]
Yanis Varoufakis, Minister of Finance in the First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras,
praised Macron, calling him "the only French Minister in the Francois
Hollande's administration that seemed to understand what was at stake in the
eurozone" and who, according to him, "tried to play the intermediary
between us [Greece] and the troika of our creditors [EC, IMF, ECB] even if they don't allow him to play the
role".[61]
Immigration
Unlike many French Socialists,
including former Prime Minister Manuel
Valls, Macron supports the open-door policy toward immigrants and refugees
pursued by Angela Merkel in Germany.[62]
Macron has expressed confidence in France's ability to absorb more immigrants
and welcomes their arrival into Europe, asserting that the influx will have a
positive economic impact.[63]
However, he believes that Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency) is
"not a sufficiently ambitious program" and has called for more
investment in coast and border guards, "because anyone who enters [Europe]
at Lampedusa
or elsewhere is a concern for all European countries."[42]
Regarding asylum policy, he believes "the [...] period of review should be
considerably shortened" and that "all those whose claims fail must be
deported immediately."
Security
and terrorism
Macron believes that the proposed
reform bill on deprivation of citizenship for French-born and naturalized
citizens convicted on terrorism charges was not a "concrete solution"
and believes that "the endless prolongation of the state of emergency raises legitimate
questions". He advocates an increase in state funding of intelligence
agencies.[64]
Macron calls for a restoration of community policing and considers that "the
management of some major risks must be delegated to the associations' or the
private sector".[65]
He considers that his proposal to
provide each young adult a "Culture Pass" of 500€ may encourage young
people to discover the culture of France and deter terrorism.[66]
Macron has endorsed proposals to
make it mandatory for internet companies to allow the government to access
encrypted communications from customers.[67]
Macron with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Paris, 7 December 2015
Environment
Ahead of the 2015 United Nations
Climate Change Conference, Macron called for acceleration of the ecological transition and
advocated a "balance between ecological imperatives and economic
requirements", an objective that the French government seeks to achieve by
fighting on "five fronts": "innovation",
"simplification", "strengthening of our energy efficiency and
[...] reduction of fossil fuels usage", "energy competitiveness"
and "action in Europe and worldwide".[68]
During the summer of 2016, he
defended the use of diesel fuel for which he believes there shouldn't be a
"hunt" since it "remains at the heart of the French industrial
policy". Macron expressed this opinion in the aftermath of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. He was
then part of a Socialist Party-backed government;
prominent members from that party, including Paris mayor Anne
Hidalgo, criticized that position.[69][70][71]
In addition, Macron is in favor of using nuclear energy which he considers
"a French choice and a choice for the future".[72]
In 2016, Macron proposed that France
"secures its supplies in the most strategic materials using three levers:
the circular economy and the recovery of materials
contained in the end of life of the products [...]; The diversification of
supplies to overcome geopolitical risks [...] and to bring more
competitiveness; the creation of new reasonable sized mines in France, while
following the best social and environmental standards".[73]
Although he is sceptical about the
construction of the Aéroport du Grand Ouest, Macron believes
that the construction should start since the people backed the project on the
2016 local referendum.[74]
Secularism
In July 2016, at the first meeting
of En
Marche!, Macron expressed opposition to the ban on Muslim headscarves
in universities, stating, "Personally, I do not believe we should be
inventing new texts, new laws, new standards, in order to hunt down veils at
universities and go after people who wear religious symbols during field
trips."[75]
In an interview with the French news
magazine Marianne, Macron asserted that
"secularism is not designed to promote a republican religion," and
responded to comments by Manuel Valls and Jean-Pierre Chevènement regarding the
practice of Islam in French society by condemning the notion that citizens
should be "discreet" in their religious practice, stating that
"historical precedents when we asked for discretion in matters of religion
did not bring honor to the Republic."[76]
In the same interview, Macron said of French Muslims, "I ask one thing:
absolutely respect the rules while in public. Religious relationships are about
transcendence, and I am not asking people to be moderate - that's not what I'm
arguing. My own deep conviction is that a practicing Catholic may believe that
the laws of his religion go far beyond the laws of the Republic. I simply
believe that when one enters the public realm, the laws of the Republic must
prevail over religious law." Also in the same interview, Macron condemned
"religious schools that teach hatred towards the Republic, with
instruction mainly in Arabic or, in other instances, which teach the Torah more
than basic fundamentals."[76]
This statement triggered an intense negative reaction from the Fonds social
juif unifié (FSJU), an organization that runs Jewish religious schools in
France.[77]
Personal
life
Macron is married to Brigitte
Trogneux, who is 24 years older[78]
than he and was his teacher in La Providence high school, Amiens.[79][80]
The pair first met when he was a student in her class, aged 15, but were only
officially a couple once he was 18.[81]
His parents initially attempted to
split the couple by sending him away to Paris to finish the final year of his
schooling, as they felt his youth made this relationship
inappropriate,[8][81]
but the couple stayed together after he graduated, and were married in 2007.
The couple live with Trogneux's
three children from her previous marriage.[9]
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