Paul-Marie Coûteaux

Paul -Marie Coûteaux ( born July 31, 1956 in Paris ) is the son of writer André Couteaux and a French politician (MPF ). From 1999 to 2009 he was a Member of Parliament in the Eurosceptic Independence and Democracy Group and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

Political career

After studying political science and law Coûteaux began his political career as a consultant for various French politicians, including Trade Minister Michel Jobert ( 1981-83 ), Language Officer Philippe de Saint- Robert ( 1984-87 ) and defense minister Jean -Pierre Chevènement (1988 - 91). 1992-93 Coûteaux worked as a consultant in the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros -Ghali office.

From 1993 Coûteaux adviser and speechwriter of the President of the French National Assembly, Philippe Séguin, who was from 1997 at the same time president of the Gaullist party, Rassemblement pour la République (RPR ). From 1998 Coûteaux was editorial director of the newly founded journal Une certaine idée RPR. He became known through his Traité de savoir - essay disparaître à l' usage d'une vieille génération, in which he attacks the generation of '68.

Within the RPR Coûteaux belonged to the sovereignist, Eurosceptic wing, who opposed inter alia, the Treaty of Maastricht. In 1999, he Coûteaux the group around Charles Pasqua, who broke with the RPR, as these represented the heritage of the Gaullist no longer appropriate in his sight under President Jacques Chirac, and the sovereignist party, Rassemblement pour la France founded. On their list Coûteaux was elected in the 1999 European elections in the European Parliament, but he left the party later. In 2001 he founded the party Entente souverainiste, the renamed in 2003 in Rassemblement pour l' indépendance et la souveraineté de la France. In addition Coûteaux became head of the sovereignist weekly L' Indépendance.

In the 2004 European elections Coûteaux was re-elected to the European Parliament, this time on the list of party Mouvement pour la France (MPF ) under Philippe de Villiers. The MPF was a member of the disbanded in late 2008 right-wing conservative, Eurosceptic Europe Party Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe. In the European Parliament belong to the three MPF members of the EP- Independence and Democracy Group.

2005 Coûteaux sat with the MPF in the French referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty for a no one. In May 2008, he was elected President of the sovereignist party, Rassemblement pour l' indépendance Klein et la souveraineté de la France ( " Association for the independence and sovereignty of France ," RIF) selected. In February 2009, he was together with Philippe de Villiers announced his membership in the pan-European organization Libertas, which rejects the Treaty of Lisbon. Through membership Coûteaux ' and Villiers ' Libertas fulfilled the necessary criteria to be recognized as a European political party.

In the European elections in France in 2009 Coûteaux was not placed on the list of MPF and Libertas, and also talks with Nicolas Dupont- Aignan not led to a nomination by the national conservative party Debout la République. Coûteaux subsequently announced first own candidacy with the party RIF but then quickly withdrew officially from the end of April 2009 election campaign back and called for abstention.