Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakech) is a French politician, presently Minister of Immigration, Integration, National identity and Solidary development in the government of François Fillon.

 

 Biography

 

Born in Morocco, Besson's mother is from Lebanon and his father was a flight instructor in the French Air Force, killed in flight three months after Éric's birth. At 17, he came back to France and studied in the École supérieure de commerce of Montpellier, then in the Institut d'études politiques de Paris.

 

Besson joined the French car company, Renault, then worked for Challenges, a business monthly, before joining the Vivendi foundation.

 

He was a member of the Socialist Party from 1993 to 2007. He has been mayor of Donzère since 1995 and was the député for the Drôme between 1997 to 2007 (he did not stand for re-election in 2007).

 

He began the 2007 French presidential election as a member of Ségolène Royal's campaign team, but defected in a blaze of publicity, proclaiming that he felt the Socialist campaign's economic policy to be deeply flawed. He then joined Nicolas Sarkozy's first government.

 

In May 2007 he become State Secretary for "Prospectives and Evaluation of Public Policies" and in January 2009, he became Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Cooperative Development in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. In 2007 he launched a new political party "Les Progressistes" which has joined the Union for a Popular Movement, Nicolas Sarkozy's party.

 

As successor to Brice Hortefeux in charge of immigration and national identity he has announced the objective (March 2009) of ensuring 26,000 compulsory repatriatiations per annum.

 

He has claimed (April 2009) that legislation enacted penalising assistance to illegal immigrants (with up to 5 years imprisonment) was not intended to discourage the general public but only trafficers. Members of the general public have however been arrested or charged under this legislation.

 

Eric Besson has overturned the unique role of Cimade in offering assistance to illegal uimmigrants held in the expanded network of detention centres in France by authorising services provided by other agencies.

 

Besson is married to Sylvie Brunel, a geographer and writer, former president of Action Against Hunger and they have three children. Their eldest child, Alexandra (born 1989), is a novelist under the pen name Ariane Fornia, and published her first book, "Dieu est une femme" ("God is a woman") in 2005.

 

Governmental functions

 

Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Development Solidarity : Since 2009

 

Secretary of State in charge of exploration, appraisal of public policies and development of the digital economy : 2007-2009

 

Electoral mandates

 

Member of the National Assembly of France for Drôme : 1997-2007 (Become minister in 2007)

 

Mayor of Donzère : Since 1995