François Bayrou

Membre du Parlement européen (France)
MoDem

● Prime Minister since 2024

● Mayor of Pau since 2014

● President of Mouvement Démocrate party in France since 2007

● President of EDP since 2004

Francois Bayrou

President of the European Democratic Party, François Bayrou is the president of the French member party Mouvement Démocrate, or MoDem. A fervent humanist, François Bayrou was first appointed from 2004 to 2019 as co-chair of the EDP with Francesco Rutelli. A pillar of the French political landscape, he was appointed High Commissioner for Planning in September 2020 by French President Emmanuel Macron. Prior to that, he renounced his candidacy for the 2017 French presidential election, committing himself to Emmanuel Macron under the nascent movement En Marche! At the local and regional levels, he is mayor of Pau and president of the Pau Béarn Pyrénées agglomeration community. François Bayrou was first elected to both positions in 2014, winning re-election in 2022. President of the MoDem since 2007, he has previously held elective office at European and national level. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2002 and a member of the French National Assembly from 2002 to 2012, from 1997 to 1999 and from 1986 to 1993. A candidate for the French presidency in 2007, where he obtained 18.57% of the vote in the first round, he was President of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) from 1998 to 2007 and Minister of National Education from 1993 to 1997. François Bayrou is the author of several books, including Abus de pouvoir published in 2009, État d’urgence in 2012 and Résolution française in 2017. Attached to the land and culture of the French Pyrenees, he was born on May 25, 1951 in Bordères, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and raised by a family of small farmers, with a modest daily life enriched by books. Raised in a strict and open-minded educational household, he inherited a civic spirit, a sense of solidarity and a genuine curiosity for politics. He obtained his baccalaureate at the Lycée de Nay and continued his higher studies at the University of Bordeaux.

 

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PDE seminar in Paris: reforms, global challenges, and support for François Bayrou

EDP MEPs in Paris with Gozi, Bayrou and Barrot: priorities for Strasbourg, governance reform, the cost of living, ecological transition and Europe’s global roleThe initiative follows Vučić’s letter sent to Brussels on 21 August, in which he accused Serbian students and demonstrators of violence, reversing the truth and blaming the victims of repression.
In his statement, Gozi denounces the hundreds of arrests of students and peaceful citizens, the use of a sonic cannon (LRAD) during the March protest in Novi Sad, the shocking video of students forced to their knees and filmed by police, the violent arrests of women and even minors, and the attack on press freedom with intimidation against N1, documented by OCCRP/KRIK.
Gozi stresses that it is not citizens who endanger Serbia’s European path, but President Vučić and his government. By resorting to repression, false narratives and attacks on fundamental freedoms, they are undermining the credibility and the European future of the country.

Open Letter

To the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić
with a copy to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen

President Vučić,
Your letter of 21 August addressed to President von der Leyen is a masterpiece of hypocrisy. But facts, numbers and images tell another story.
In recent months, hundreds of people have been arrested in Serbia, including students and peaceful citizens. Many of them remain in prison today, facing charges that are essentially political. In practice, this undermines their freedom of expression and discourages democratic participation. It is not the citizens who are destabilising the country: it is your government, repressing the right to protest.
In March, during a commemoration in Novi Sad, a sonic cannon (LRAD) was used against demonstrators, A weapon, capable of provoking harsh pain, panic and permanent hearing damage. A practice that has nothing to do with the european standards you claim to embrace.
On 15 August, a video showed fifteen young people forced to their knees against a wall, filmed by police officers. An act of public humiliation, in total contempt for human dignity and contrary to every democratic standard.
And this was not an isolated case: in those same days, other footage and testimonies clearly showed worrying heavy-handed arrests, with students dragged to the ground, women and even minors treated without regard for their rights.
While students are beaten and arrested, citizens have witnessed violent groups apparently close to your party moving about undisturbed.
This selective tolerance raises serious concerns of rule of law.
Equally serious is the attack on freedom of information. N1, a news channel belonging to United Media (United Group), has been the target of a campaign of intimidation and pressure documented in recordings published by OCCRP/KRIK. You know perfectly well that silencing the last independent broadcaster means suffocating truth and pluralism.
President Vučić, it is not the youth, it is not the citizens, it is not the demonstrators who are jeopardising the European path of Serbia: Serbia belongs to Europe. But it is you — with your policies, your denyal your statements — which are undermining the credibility and the european path of your country.
Your accusations against Nikolina Sindjelić are embarrassing . The evidence shows that threats, unlawful arrests and violence have indeed taken place: personal attacks do not erase reality.
Your letter must therefore be sent back to the sender.
Serbian citizens deserve much better and Europe is something else: freedom, dignity, democracy.

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Website of the European Democrats - https://democrats.eu

“The appointment of François Bayrou as Prime Minister is a wise and forward-thinking decision by President Emmanuel Macron”

“The appointment of François Bayrou as Prime Minister is a wise and forward-thinking decision by President Emmanuel Macron,” stated Sandro Gozi, MEP, Secretary-General of the European Democratic Party. “Throughout his extensive political career, François Bayrou has proven to be a man of dialogue, balance, and vision—qualities that are essential to navigating the complex challenges France faces today.”

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