Élisabeth Guigou

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French Deputy Minister for European Affairs
Élisabeth Guigou

Member of the French National Assembly for Seine-Saint-Denis (9^th constituency)
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 June 2002
Preceded by	Véronique Neiertz
French Minister for Social Affairs
In office 18 October 2000 – 5 May 2002
Preceded by	Martine Aubry
Succeeded by	François Fillon
French Minister for Justice
In office 4 June 1997 – 1_ October 2000
Preceded by	Jacques Toubon
Succeeded by	Marylise Lebranchu
In office 3 October 1990 – 29 March 1993
Preceded by	Édith Cresson
Succeeded by	Alain Lamassoure
Member of the European Parliament for France
In office 19 July 1994 – 5 July 1997

Born	August 6, 1946 (1946-08-06) (age 61) Marrakesh, Morocco
Political party	Socialist
Spouse	Jean-Louis Guigou
Alma mater	ENA

Élisabeth Guigou (born Élisabeth Vallier, 6 August 1946, Marrakesh, Morocco) is a French Socialist politician.

[edit] Biography

After attending ENA, France's elite graduate school of public affairs, she worked on Jacques Delors' staff in 1982 before being hired by Hubert Védrine in François Mitterrand's . She was appointed Secretary-General of the Interminsterial Committee on European Economical Matters in 1986 during the period of cohabitation.

She first got a taste of front-line politics when she was appointed Minister of Eureopean Affairs (1990-1993), during the campaign on the Maastricht Treaty, before she was elected to the European Parliament in 1994.

In 1997, she was elected to the National Assembly in the Vaucluse département and entered incoming Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's cabinet, as Minister of Justice (1997-2000) and then as Minister of Employment (2000-2002).

She failed to be elected Mayor of Avignon and, facing possible defeat in her district, got nominated as a candidate for the National Assembly in 2002 in the heavily left-wing département of Seine-Saint-Denis. She was re-elected in 2007.

She is a founding chairwoman and co-president with Jean-Noël Jeanneney of Europartenaires, a group linking business interests with the European Union. She has also created a lobby group called Femmes d'Europe (Women of Europe) and sits on the board of directors of Jacques Delors's foundation Notre Europe (Our Europe). She campaigned for the Yes in the referendum on the 2005 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

She is the spouse of Jean-Louis Guigou, a professor of economics, former technical adviser to Michel Rocard and civil servant. They have one child.