Pierre Lellouche - Biography

Pierre Lellouche (born May 3, 1951) is a French politician and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. He is Secretary of State for Foreign Trade under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde. He was also the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from November 2004 to 17 November 2006. He was elected deputy of Sarcelles in 1993, and retained his seat at the National Assembly until 2002. He has been director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He is of Jewish Pied-Noir origin.^[1]

Life and career

Lellouche was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He defended a traditional view of the family during the discussions concerning the Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS), a form of civil union. He is also a strong opponent of the solidarity tax on wealth (ISF) first voted under François Mitterrand. Now a supporter of President Nicolas Sarkozy, he is also a member of the UMP group named "Les Réformateurs," counting around 80 deputies, and which advocates the deep reform of the administration and the liberalization of the economy.

Lellouche was also the French negotiator concerning the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, finally implanted in Cadarache in France.

Lellouche has recently called the UK Conservative Party's policy on the EU "pathetic" and a kind of political autism claiming "They have essentially castrated your UK influence in the European parliament."

He is divorced from Anne-Laure Banon, half-sister of Tristane Banon, in the news in 2011 for opposing lawsuits by and against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, his former opponent in the 1993 legislative elections.

Political career

Governmental functions

Secretary of State for Foreign trade : Since 2010.

Secretary of State for European Affairs : 2009-2010.

Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Paris (4th constituency) : 1997-2009 (Became secretary of State in 2009). Elected in 1997, reelected in 2002, 2007.

Member of the National Assembly of France for Val d'Oise (8th constituency) : 1993-1997.

Municipal Council

Councillor of Paris : Since 2001. Reelected in 2008.

Municipal councillor of Cannes : 1995-2001.