Christophe Béchu
Minister for Ecological Transition and Cohesion of the Territories
Assumed office
4 July 2022[1]
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Gabriel Attal
Preceded byAmélie de Montchalin
Minister for Relations with Local Authorities
In office
20 May 2022 – 4 July 2022
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Preceded byJoël Giraud
Mayor of Angers
In office
4 April 2014 – 18 July 2022
Preceded byFrédéric Béatse
Succeeded byJean-Marc Verchère
Member of the French Senate
for Maine-et-Loire
In office
1 October 2011 – 1 October 2017
Preceded byAndré Lardeux
Personal details
Born (1974-06-11) 11 June 1974
Angers, France
Political partyHorizons (2021–present)
Other political
affiliations		UMP (before 2015)
The Republicans (2015–2017)
Alma materSciences Po

Christophe Béchu (born 11 June 1974) is a French politician who has been serving as Minister for Ecological Transition and Cohesion of the Territories in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne since 2022.[2]

Béchu previously was the President of the General Council of the Maine-et-Loire department from 2004 to 2014. He briefly served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, representing the West France constituency.[3] A former member of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement,[3] later the Republicans (LR), and the DL, Béchu became the secretary general of Horizons in 2021.

Béchu briefly served as Minister of Relations with Local Authorities from 20 May to 4 July 2022.[4][1]

Political career

Béchu has represented the Canton of Angers-Nord-Ouest since 2001, and was re-elected there during the 2008 French cantonal elections. However, he was narrowly defeated by the incumbent PS mayor of Angers, Jean-Claude Antonini, in the 2008 municipal elections.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2011

In 2009, the UMP selected him to lead the UMP list in the West constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. He was elected to the European Parliament as a result. His list won 27.16% of the vote and three MEPs. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with Japan.[5] He resigned in January 2011.

Béchu lost the regional election of 2010 to become President of Pays de la Loire region, but was elected as a regional councillor. In the 2011 elections, he was elected as a Senator of Maine-et-Loire, and thereafter resigned from regional council of Pays-de-Loire.

Mayor of Angers, 2014–2022

During the 2014 French municipal elections, Béchu competed against Frédéric Béatse, incumbent, and became the new mayor of Angers on 4 April 2014. Béchu was re-elected in 2020.

In 2016, Béchu caused controversy when he requested the removal of posters that had been installed as part of a governmental HIV/AIDS prevention campaign "not to expose a young public to a message they cannot understand“; at the time, Minister of Health Marisol Touraine denounced Béchu as "homophobe."[6]

Career in government

In October 2023, Béchu participated in the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron.[7][8]

Other activities

Political positions

In 2019, Béchu publicly declared his support for incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.[10]

In 2022, Bechu sponsored regulations to re-allow lark hunting in France. This is after previous regulations were struck down as being a violation of EU law.

References

  1. 1 2 "La confiance que m'accordent @EmmanuelMacron et @Elisabeth_Borne m'oblige. La tâche est immense, je m'engage à déployer toute mon énergie pour mettre en oeuvre une politique écologique concrète et adaptée aux territoires". Retrieved 5 July 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Gouvernement Borne 2 : un remaniement sans tambour ni trompette". France 24. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 "MEP profile – Christophe BÉCHU". European Parliament.
  4. 1 2 Marius Bocquet (20 May 2022), Gouvernement : Christophe Béchu, le premier des philippistes, nommé ministre délégué aux Collectivités territoriales Le Figaro.
  5. ↑ Christophe Béchu European Parliament.
  6. ↑ François Béguin (22 November 2016), Affiches de prévention du sida : Touraine saisit la justice à la suite d’une « censure » Le Monde.
  7. ↑ Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke (9 October 2023), Germany, France hold unprecedented cabinet retreat to oil creaky EU motor Reuters.
  8. ↑ Erste deutsch-französische Kabinettsklausur: Zukunftsfragen und Weltpolitik diskutiert Cabinet of Germany, press release of 10 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Thomas Bronnec and Thierry Dupont (24 October 2008), Dexia: Rebsamen part, les autres restent L'Express.
  10. ↑ Voici la tribune des 72 maires et élus locaux de droite et du centre qui annoncent leur soutien à Macron Le Journal du Dimanche, 8 June 2019.
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