Nathalie Loiseau | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2019 | |
| Constituency | France |
| Minister for European Affairs | |
| In office 21 June 2017 – 27 March 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Édouard Philippe |
| Preceded by | Marielle de Sarnez |
| Succeeded by | Amélie de Montchalin |
| Director of theÉcole nationale d'administration | |
| In office 3 October 2012 – 21 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Bernard Boucault |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Gérard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nathalie Lydie Jeanne Ducoulombier (1964-06-01)1 June 1964 (age 60) Neuilly-sur-Seine,France |
| Political party | HOR (2021–present) |
| Other political affiliations | LREM (2017–2021) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Lycée Carnot |
| Alma mater | Sciences Po Inalco |
Nathalie Lydie Jeanne Loiseau (French pronunciation:[natalilwazo]; born 1 June 1964) is a French politician,diplomat and academic administrator who has served as aMember of European Parliament since 2019. Previously she was director of theÉcole nationale d'administration (ENA) from 2012 to 2017 and served as the French Minister for European Affairs from 21 June 2017 to 27 March 2019. She was the top candidate of theLa République En Marche electoral list in the2019 European elections.[1]
Nathalie Loiseau was born on 1 June 1964 inNeuilly-sur-Seine, France.[2][3][4] Her father was a corporate consultant inmergers and acquisitions.[2]
Loiseau graduated fromSciences Po in 1983.[2][4] In 1984, she appeared on a list of candidates for a students' union linked to the far-rightGroupe Union Défense.[5] She also studied Chinese language at theInstitut national des langues et civilisations orientales.[6]
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Loiseau joined the French foreign service in 1986.[2][3] She served as a diplomat in Indonesia from 1990 to 1992.[3] She was an advisor to Foreign MinisterAlain Juppé from 1993 to 1995.[2][3] She later served diplomatic missions inDakar, Senegal andRabat, Morocco.[4] She served as the Communications Director at theEmbassy of France, Washington, D.C. from 2002 to 2007.[2][4] She was the head of Human Resources at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2011, and as its chief of staff from 2011 to 2012.[2][3]
Loiseau was the director of theÉcole nationale d'administration (ENA) between 2012 and 2017.[4]
On 21 June 2017, Loiseau succeededMarielle de Sarnez as the French Minister for European Affairs.[7]
Loiseau has been aMember of the European Parliament since the2019 European elections. She has since been a member of theCommittee on Foreign Affairs and itsSubcommittee on Security and Defence, the latter of which she chaired from 2019 to 2024. In 2020, she also joined the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union.[8]
In addition to her committee assignments, Loiseau is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with theMaghreb countries and theArab Maghreb Union; to the Parliamentary Assembly of theUnion for the Mediterranean; and for relations with theNATO Parliamentary Assembly.[9] She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights[10] theEuropean Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights[11] and theMEPs Against Cancer group.[12] Since 2021, she has been chairing the Parliament's delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly, which provides parliamentary oversight over the implementation of theEU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.[13][14]
Loiseau was re-elected as an MEP following the2024 European Parliament election.[15] She was selected by the European Union as the chief of mission of its observation team to monitor the2025 Kosovan parliamentary election.[16]
In a 2022 letter toEuropean Commissioner for the Environment,Oceans and FisheriesVirginijus Sinkevičius, Loiseau – together withPierre Karleskind andStéphanie Yon-Courtin – urged the EU to take measures to end British water treatment facilities’ discharges of raw sewage into shared waters, part of what they argued was an unacceptable lowering of environmental standards sinceBrexit.[17]
Also in 2022, Loiseau andBart Groothuis wrote a letter to local officials in Strasbourg, criticizing a deal between Chinese technology companyNuctech andStrasbourg Airport to provideairport scanning systems, arguing the firm would get access to data on its travelers, including EU lawmakers.[18]
In March 2024, Loiseau was one of twenty MEPs to be given a "Rising Star" award atThe Parliament Magazine's annualMEP Awards[19]
Loiseau is married and has four children.[2][4] She is a Roman Catholic, and a feminist.[2]
In March 2019, Loiseau posted a joke to her privateFacebook page about owning a cat which she had named 'Brexit', saying that "He wakes me up every morning meowing to death because he wants to go out, and then when I open the door he stays put, undecided, and then glares at me when I put him out."[20] The quote was reprinted byLe Journal du Dimanche,[21] and in response to the widespread international media coverage Loiseau clarified that she does not own a cat, and her comments were intended as a joke.[22]
