Raymond Barre | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Barre in 1980 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 25 August 1976 – 21 May 1981 | |
| President | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
| Preceded by | Jacques Chirac |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Mauroy |
| Mayor ofLyon | |
| In office 25 June 1995 – 25 March 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Michel Noir |
| Succeeded by | Gérard Collomb |
| Minister of the Economy and Finance | |
| In office 27 August 1976 – 5 April 1978 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Fourcade |
| Succeeded by | René Monory |
| Minister of Foreign Trade | |
| In office 12 January 1976 – 25 August 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacques Chirac |
| Preceded by | Norbert Ségard |
| Succeeded by | André Rossi |
| European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs | |
| In office 7 February 1967 – 5 January 1973 | |
| President | Jean Rey Franco Maria Malfatti Sicco Mansholt |
| Preceded by | Robert Marjolin |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Haferkamp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (1924-04-12)12 April 1924 Saint-Denis, France |
| Died | 25 August 2007(2007-08-25) (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Party | Independent, affiliated withUDF |
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (French:[ʁɛmɔ̃baʁ]; 12 April 1924 – 25 August 2007) was a French politician and economist. He was aVice President of the European Commission andCommissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey,Malfatti andMansholt). He later served asPrime Minister underValéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981. As a candidate for thepresidency in 1988, he came in third and was eliminated in the first round. He was born inSaint-Denis, on the French island ofRéunion, and then still a colony (it became anoverseas department in 1946).
After his education, Raymond Barre was a professor of economics at theInstitut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) as well asÉcole Centrale Paris.
From 1959 to 1962, he was director ofJean-Marcel Jeanneney's staff in the ministry of Industry and Trade. Then, in 1967, PresidentCharles de Gaulle chose him asVice-President of the European Commission forEconomic & Financial Affairs. He stayed inBrussels until January 1973, serving in theRey,Malfatti andMansholt Commissions. Having come back to France, he joined the cabinet as minister of External Trade in January 1976.
Seven months later, while mostly unknown at that time, PresidentGiscard d'Estaing appointed himPrime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance. He presented him to the French people as "the best economist in France" (French:meilleur économiste de France). Under theFifth Republic, he was the only person to hold these two offices at the same time. He left the ministry of Economy and Finance in 1978 but stayed as Prime minister until the defeat of Giscard d'Estaing at the1981 presidential election.
At the head of the cabinet, he was faced with the conflict which divided the parliamentary majority between the "Giscardians" and the neo-GaullistRally for the Republic (RPR) led by his predecessorJacques Chirac. The right majority unexpectedly won the1978 legislative election.
Barre was primarily confronted with an economic crisis. He advocated numerous complex, strict policies ("Barre Plans"). The first Barre plan emerged on 22 September 1976, with a priority to stop inflation. It included a 3-month price freeze; a reduction in the value-added tax; wage controls; salary controls; a reduction of the growth in the money supply; and increases in the income tax, automobile taxes, luxury taxes and bank rates. There were measures to restore the trade balance and support the growth of the economy and employment. Oil imports, whose price had shot up, were limited. There was special aid to exports, and an action fund was set up to aid industries. There was increased financial aid to farmers, who were suffering from a drought, and for social security. The package was not very popular but was pursued with vigour.[1]
He did not use diplomatic language in the face of trade union opposition. Instead, he mocked "the bearers of banners" (French:les porteurs de pancartes) and he exhorted "instead of grousing, you should work hard".
After he resigned as head of the cabinet, he was elected deputy ofRhônedépartement under the label of theUnion for French Democracy (UDF). However, he never formally joined the party. He held his parliamentary seat until 2002.
In the 1980s, he competed for the leadership of the right against Chirac. Believing that the "cohabitation" was incompatible with the "Fifth Republic", he let Chirac take the lead of the cabinet after the1986 legislative election. He ran as UDF candidate for president in the1988 election, but some components of his party covertly supported the other right-wing candidate, the Neo-Gaullist Prime MinisterJacques Chirac. In this, in spite of positive polls at the beginning of the campaign, he came third behind the two protagonists of the "cohabitation": the Socialist PresidentFrançois Mitterrand andJacques Chirac. For the second round, he called his voters to transfer to the RPR candidate, who was finally defeated.
After his presidential candidacy failed, he focused on his local tenures inLyon. In 1995, the RPR Mayor of Lyon,Michel Noir, could not compete for another term due to a judicial indictment, so Barre was the conservative candidate for the mayoralty. He was elected, but he did not run for a second term in 2001. One year later, he finished his last parliamentary term in theFrench National Assembly and retired from politics.
Raymond Barre was probably the only French politician to have reached such high levels of responsibility without having ever been an official member or leader of any political party. He always kept some distance from what he considered to be the political "microcosm".
Raymond Barre died on 25 August 2007 at age 83 at theVal-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris,[2] where he was being treated for heart problems since his transfer from a hospital inMonaco on 11 April 2007.[3]
Governmental functions
Prime minister: 1976–1981.
Minister of Economy and Finance: 1976–1978.
Minister of Foreign Trade: January–August 1976.
Electoral mandates
National Assembly of France
Member of theNational Assembly of France forRhône (department) : 1981–2002. Elected in 1981, reelected in 1986, 1988, 1993, 1997.
Municipal Council
Mayor ofLyon : 1995–2001.
Municipal councillor ofLyon: 1995–2001.
Urban community Council
President of theUrban Community of Lyon: 1995–2001.
Member of theUrban Community of Lyon: 1995–2001.
Bilderberg Conference participant 1983
On several occasions, Raymond Barre made remarks that were interpreted as antisemitic, or at least supportive ofantisemitism. In 1980, when he was prime minister, abombing was attempted against theUnion Libérale Israélite de France, a synagogue in the rue Copernic, Paris; however the bomb detonated in the street when the Jews attendingshabbat were inside the synagogue, and not when they were out; but as a result some non-Jewish bystanders were killed. Raymond Barre then famously denounced:
In 2007, Barre argued on a radio show that "the Jewish lobby" had orchestrated criticism regarding his 1980 remarks. On this same show, Barre defended thecollaborationistMaurice Papon at his trial, describing him as "a scapegoat". Barre was criticized for these remarks.[5]
Changes
Changes
Barre retired from active politics in June 2002. He had been treated at a hospital for a heart condition since April 2007 when he died on 25 August 2007. He was survived by his wife and two sons.[6]
Morocco : Grand Officerof theOrder of Ouissam Alaouite
Quebec : Officier of theNational Order of Quebec
Spain : Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Isabella the Catholic[7]
Tunisia : Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Republic| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | French European Commissioner 1967–1973 Served alongside:Jean-François Deniau,Henri Rochereau | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Succeeded by | ||
| European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs 1967–1973 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Trade 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 1976–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of the Economy and Finance 1976–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor ofLyon 1995–2001 | Succeeded by |
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