Valérie Pécresse

Valérie Pécresse
President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 December 2015
Preceded by	Jean-Paul Huchon
Member of the French National Assembly for Yvelines
In office 2012–2016
Preceded by	Yves Vandewalle
Succeeded by	Pascal Thévenot
Minister of the Budget
In office 29 June 2011 – 15 May 2012
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	François Baroin
Succeeded by	Jérôme Cahuzac
Minister of Higher Education and Research
In office 18 May 2007 – 29 June 2011
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	François Goulard
Succeeded by	Laurent Wauquiez
Personal details
Born	Valérie Roux 14 July 1967 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Political party	The Republicans (previously UMP)
Spouse(s)	Jérôme Pécresse (m. 1994)
Children	3
Alma mater	HEC Paris, ÉNA
Religion	Roman Catholic

Valérie Pécresse (French pronunciation: ​[valeʁi peˈkʁɛs]; born 14 July 1967 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician. She has been deputy of the Yvelines since 16 May 2002, Minister for Higher Education and Research from 18 May 2007 to June 2011 and Minister of the Budget from then until May 2012. She was also the Government's spokeswoman.

Biography

Pécresse is the daughter of Dominique Roux (CEO of Bolloré telecom since January 2007).

Pécresse has degrees from HEC Paris and ÉNA.^[1] She was an auditor of the Conseil d'État until 1998, when she was designated Counselor of the President of the French Republic. She speaks French, English, Russian and Japanese.^[2]

In June 2002, she was elected deputy of the Yvelines' second constituency. She was also elected regional counselor of Île-de-France in 2004. Pécresse was a national spokeswoman of the UMP, and spokeswoman of the party in the Yvelines.

On 18 May 2007, she was designated Minister of Higher Education and Research of François Fillon's second cabinet.

There, she has launched many reforms which have caused a great wave of strikes.

In 2009, the Académie de la Carpette anglaise, an organization that opposes the spread of the English language in Francophone countries, gave Pécresse the Prix de la Carpette Anglaise ("English Doormat Prize") for having refused to speak French at international meetings in Brussels, Belgium; Pécresse had stated that English was the easiest means of communication.^[3]

After the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election of 2012, Pécresse remains a key member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP in French). She announced that she would be supporting former Prime Minister François Fillon in his bid for the UMP Presidency, stating that it was an act of loyalty, as Fillon has always supported her during her tenure as Minister, especially when her position was threatened by street protests.

Political career

Governmental function

Government's spokeswoman : 2011-2012.

Ministre of Budget, Public accounts and State reform : 2011-2012.

Minister of Higher Education and Research : 2007-2011.

Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Yvelines (2nd constituency) : 2002–2007 (Became minister in 2007). Elected in 2002, reelected in 2007.

Regional Council

Regional councillor of Île-de-France : Since 2004. Reelected in 2010.

References

1. (French) Valérie Pécresse, la guerrière
2. Valérie Pécresse :Et Dieu créa la femme, Le nouvel economiste
3. Schofiel, Hugh (22 January 2009). "New lingua franca upsets French". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2009.

External links

• Biography
• (French) interview of Valérie Pécresse for a student TV during the strike of university teacher in February 2009