François Rebsamen | |
|---|---|
 Rebsamen in 2023 | |
| Minister for Territorial Development and Decentralisation | |
| In office 23 December 2024 – 5 October 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | François Bayrou |
| Preceded by | Catherine Vautrin |
| Succeeded by | Éric Woerth |
| Minister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue | |
| In office 2 April 2014 – 2 September 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Manuel Valls |
| Preceded by | Michel Sapin |
| Succeeded by | Myriam El Khomri |
| President of theSocialist group in theSenate | |
| In office 1 October 2011 – 15 April 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Bel |
| Succeeded by | Didier Guillaume |
| Senator forCôte-d'Or | |
| In office 1 October 2008 – 2 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Louis Grillot |
| Succeeded by | Isabelle Lajoux |
| Mayor ofDijon | |
| In office 10 August 2015 – 25 November 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Alain Millot |
| Succeeded by | Nathalie Koenders |
| In office 25 March 2001 – 5 April 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Poujade |
| Succeeded by | Alain Millot |
| Member of theGeneral Council ofCôte-d'Or for thecanton of Dijon-5 | |
| In office 2 April 1998 – 1 October 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Pierre Barbier |
| Succeeded by | Laurent Grandguillaume |
| Personal details | |
| Born | François Michel Édouard Rebsamen (1951-06-25)25 June 1951 (age 74) |
| Political party | Progressist Federation(2022–present) |
| Other political affiliations | LCR (until 1974) PS (1974–2022) |
| Children | 1 |
François Michel Édouard Rebsamen (French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swaʁɛbsamɛn]; born 25 June 1951) is a French politician who served asMinister for Territorial Development and Decentralisation in thegovernment ofPrime Minister François Bayrou from 2024 to 2025.[1] A former member of theSocialist Party, he previously served asMinister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue in thefirst andsecond governments of Prime MinisterManuel Valls from 2014 to 2015.
Rebsamen is the son of Eric Gottfried Rebsamen, aProtestant who was born inStuttgart on 9 January 1917, and worked atRenault in Dijon for several months in 1939–40. In that same city, after the war, the senior Rebsamen married Denise Agron, daughter of Édouard Agron, a surgeon and radical-socialist, originally fromBriennon inLoire, who was a member of Dijon's municipal council under thePopular Front. The senior Rebsamen died in Dijon on 19 February 1974.[2][3][4]
Rebsamen earned a master's degree in public law, adiplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées in economics and a degree in political science.[5]
Rebsamen began his professional and political career by serving as chief of staff for theRegional Council of Burgundy from 1979 to 1983, where he worked alongsidePierre Joxe (1979–1982) andAndré Billardon (1982–1983). He followed Joxe to various other posts, serving as his chief of staff from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1991. He then worked underLaurent Fabius while the latter wasFirst Secretary of the Socialist Party (1992–1993), then as technical advisor toJean-Jack Queyranne.
In the early 1970s, Rebsamen was an active member of theRevolutionary Communist League, a militant group. He left in 1974.
Following the1989 French municipal elections, Rebsamen was elected president of the Socialist group in the Dijon municipal council.
In 1994, Rebsamen was elected to theRegional Council of Burgundy, where he held a seat until 2001. In 1997 he ran in thelegislative election in the1st constituency ofCôte-d'Or, but was defeated byRobert Poujade, the mayor of Dijon. In the same year, he was named National Secretary of the Socialist Party at theBrest Congress, and became the party's deputy head, under his friendFrançois Hollande.[6]
Rebsamen was elected in March 1998 as the general councillor of thecanton of Dijon-5, winning 51.5% of the vote and defeating the incumbent, Pierre Barbier of theRally for the Republic (RPR).
In the2001 municipal election, Rebsamen became the first left-wing candidate to be elected mayor of Dijon since 1935, winning 52.1% of the vote and defeating Jean-François Bazin (RPR). That year he also became president ofGrand Dijon, a post he held until 2014. He ran again for the legislature in2002, but lost toBernard Depierre of theUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP), who succeeded Poujade. He was re-elected general councillor in March 2004, this time winning 62.5% of the vote.
Rebsamen directed the Socialist Party's campaign for the March 2004 regional and cantonal elections, and in 2005 ran the campaign for a "Yes" vote in theFrench referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. In June, then in August 2006, he askedJack Lang andDominique Strauss-Kahn to withdraw their candidacy for president of France, and explicitly supportedSégolène Royal, becoming co-director of her campaign, along withJean-Louis Bianco.
Rebsamen was re-elected mayor of Dijon in the2008 municipal election, winning 56.2% of the vote to François-Xavier Dugourd's 36.4%. His plan to build atramway in Dijon was unanimously approved by the Greater Dijon Community Council on 15 May 2008.[7]
From 2007 to 2008, Rebsamen was a director of Dexia-Crédit Local de France, resigning a few days before it went bankrupt.
In the2008 elections, Rebsamen became a Senator, the first Socialist to represent Côte-d'Or in theSenate since 1948, and then resigned as general councillor. In the Senate, he was a member of the Committee on Finance. Following theSenate elections of 25 September 2011, and the election of 1 October, Rebsamen was chosen to lead theSocialist group in the Senate.
In the Socialist Party's2011 primary, Rebsamen endorsedFrançois Hollande as the party's candidate ahead of the2012 presidential election.[8]
In 2012, Rebsamen opposed a government effort tried to prevent politicians from holding multiple posts, and said that if forced to choose between continuing as Senator or as mayor of Dijon he would opt for the latter.[9][10]
Following the2014 municipal election, Rebsamen was elected to his third term as mayor with 52.8% of the vote, defeatingAlain Houpert (UMP).[11]
On 2 April 2014, Rebsamen was appointed Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue in the government ofPrime MinisterManuel Valls. This appointment led Rebsamen to resign from the mayorship of Dijon. Upon the appointment of the second Valls government, his ministerial portfolio was expanded to include vocational training. While at the Labour Ministry, he was nicknamed "Minister of Unemployment" owing to the high jobless rate characteristic of Hollande's presidency.[12][13][14]
On 30 July 2015, after the death of Alain Millot, who had succeeded him as mayor of Dijon, Rebsamen announced that he would run for the post again. On 10 August 2015, he was re-elected mayor and Grand Dijon (renamedDijon Métropole in 2017) president, and a few days later he resigned his ministerial post. On 6 December 2016, he was offered the post ofMinister of the Interior, but refused as he preferred to remain mayor of Dijon.[15]
Ahead of the Socialist Party's2018 convention in Aubervilliers, Rebsamen publicly endorsedStéphane Le Foll as candidate for the party's leadership.[16]
After being diagnosed with cancer, Rebsamen announced on 10 April 2018 that he would not be able to serve as mayor of Dijon and president of Dijon Métropole during his treatment, and thus appointedNathalie Koenders as interim mayor andPierre Pribetich as interim metropolis president.[17]
Ahead of the2022 presidential election, Rebsamen endorsedEmmanuel Macron and left the Socialist Party.[18] In May 2022, he launched the Progressist Federation (Fédération progressiste, FP), a new centre-left party.[19][20] The party joined theEnsemble coalition and saw two of its members –Christine Decodts inNord andBenoît Bordat in Côte-d'Or – win a seat in the National Assembly in2022, joining theRenaissance group.
After having resigned as mayor of Dijon on 25 November 2024, Rebsamen was appointed Minister for Territorial Development and Decentralisation the following 23 December in the newly-formed government of Prime MinisterFrançois Bayrou, marking his return to national politics.[21]
