Bruno Le Maire facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Bruno Le Maire
Le Maire in 2022

Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty
In office 17 May 2017 – 21 September 2024
Prime Minister	Édouard Philippe Jean Castex Élisabeth Borne Gabriel Attal
Preceded by	Michel Sapin
Succeeded by	Antoine Armand
Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fishing
In office 23 June 2009 – 15 May 2012
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	Michel Barnier
Succeeded by	Stéphane Le Foll
Secretary of State for European Affairs
In office 18 December 2008 – 23 June 2009
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Jouyet
Succeeded by	Pierre Lellouche
Member of the National Assembly for Eure's 1st constituency
In office 21 June 2017 – 21 July 2017
Preceded by	Guy Lefrand
Succeeded by	Séverine Gipson
In office 20 June 2012 – 17 June 2017
Preceded by	Guy Lefrand
Succeeded by	Guy Lefrand
In office 20 June 2007 – 13 January 2009
Preceded by	Françoise Charpentier
Succeeded by	Guy Lefrand

Personal details
Born	(1969-04-15) 15 April 1969 (age 56) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Political party	Renaissance (since 2017)
Other political affiliations	UMP (before 2015) LR (2015–2017)
Spouse	Pauline Doussau de Bazignan (m. 1998)
Children	4
Education	Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Alma mater	École normale supérieure Université Paris-Sorbonne Sciences Po École nationale d'administration

Bruno Le Maire (born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and writer. He was the Minister for Economy and Finance from 2017 to 2024. He worked under President Emmanuel Macron.

Before this, he was part of The Republicans political party. In 2017, he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). He also served as a government official for European matters from 2008 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, he was the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fishing under President Nicolas Sarkozy. Le Maire is also a well-known author. His book Des hommes d'État won an award in 2008.

About Bruno Le Maire's Early Life and School

Bruno Le Maire was born on 15 April 1969 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. His father, Maurice Le Maire, worked for an oil company. His mother, Viviane Fradin de Belâbre, was a headmistress at private Catholic schools.

Le Maire went to Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague for his high school education. In 1989, he started attending the École normale supérieure. He also studied French literature at Paris-Sorbonne University. In 1995, he graduated from Sciences Po. The next year, he was accepted into the École nationale d'administration (ÉNA), a special school for future government leaders.

Bruno Le Maire is married to Pauline Doussau de Bazignan, who is a painter. They have four sons. His wife worked as his helper in parliament from 2007 to 2013. Le Maire speaks French, English, Italian, and German very well.

Bruno Le Maire's Career in Government

Starting His Career

After finishing ÉNA in 1998, Bruno Le Maire started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He later joined the team helping Dominique de Villepin, who was a top official for the President. In 2002, he became an advisor for foreign affairs. In 2004, he became an advisor in the Interior Ministry.

Bruno Le Maire in 2007

Le Maire talking with Jean-Louis Debré in Évreux

After several government jobs, Le Maire became a political advisor to the Prime Minister. In July 2006, he was made the Prime Minister's main helper. He stayed in this role until the Prime Minister left office.

From 2007 to 2008, he was a member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the 1st area of Eure. In December 2008, he became a government official for European matters. He held this job until 2009. Since 2008, Le Maire has also been a political advisor for the UMP party. He is also a council member in Évreux.

Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fishing (2009–2012)

In June 2009, Bruno Le Maire became the new Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fishing. This was in the government led by François Fillon. During his time as Minister, he created a new plan to make French farming, food, and fishing more modern.

He also hosted the G20 Agriculture meeting in 2011. This meeting led to the creation of AMIS, which stands for Agricultural Market Information System. AMIS helps to keep an eye on the global farming market.

Trying to Become a Leader

Bruno Le Maire speaking in 2013

Le Maire in Brussels, 2014

In August 2012, Le Maire said he wanted to run for the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement party. He competed against other important politicians. He wanted to bring new ideas and focus on four main points:

Making Europe's economy work better together.
Making French businesses and economy stronger.
Bringing back values like respect and authority in society.
Bringing new, younger people into political parties.

However, he did not get enough supporters to run. In November 2014, he ran for the leader of The Republicans party (which used to be UMP). He received 29.8% of the votes, while Nicolas Sarkozy won.

Le Maire was seen as a strong candidate for the 2016 election to choose the center-right candidate for president. But he only got 2.4% of the votes. He then became the international affairs spokesperson for François Fillon, who was the candidate for The Republicans. However, Le Maire resigned when Fillon had a money problem during his campaign.

Since then, Le Maire has moved away from his party. He believes that his party should work with President Macron to help France succeed. He also wants to stop the National Rally party from gaining more power. On 17 May 2017, The Republicans party announced that anyone from their party who joined the government was no longer a member, including Le Maire.

Minister of the Economy and Finance (2017–2024)

Bruno Le Maire (left) in 2017

Le Maire arriving at a meeting in September 2017

In May 2017, President Emmanuel Macron chose Le Maire to be the Minister of the Economy. This was in the first government led by Édouard Philippe. Soon after, Le Maire joined the La République En Marche! party. He won his election in his local area, beating the National Rally candidate. On 19 June 2017, he was made the Minister of the Economy and Finance in the second Philippe government.

In November 2017, Le Maire was thought to be a possible next President of the Eurogroup. This group makes decisions about the euro currency. However, the job went to Mário Centeno from Portugal. In 2019, Le Maire helped choose a European candidate to lead the International Monetary Fund.

On 5 June 2022, Le Maire said that France was talking with the United Arab Emirates. They wanted to get oil from there instead of from Russia. In September 2023, Le Maire took part in a meeting with the German government. In October 2023, he joined the first joint meeting of the German and French governments.

On 21 September 2024, Bruno Le Maire was replaced by Antoine Armand as economy and finance minister. This ended his time in that role, which lasted over seven years.

Other Things Bruno Le Maire Does

Working with European Union Groups

European Investment Bank (EIB): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
European Stability Mechanism (ESM): He is a member of the Board of Governors.

Working with International Groups

Asian Development Bank (ADB): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
International Monetary Fund (IMF): He is a member of the Board of Governors.
Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee: He is a member.
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group: He is a member of the Board of Governors.
World Bank: He is a member of the Board of Governors.

Non-profit Organizations

European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR): He is a member.
Hertie School of Governance: He is a member of the Board of Trustees.

Bruno Le Maire's Political Ideas

Ideas for France

During the conservative elections in 2016, Le Maire became stricter on some issues. He talked about law and order and French identity. He wanted to quickly remove foreigners who were seen as a risk by security services. He also wanted to send foreign people who finished jail terms back to their home countries. He also suggested limiting the number of refugees.

Ideas for the Economy

Le Maire and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at a meeting in Saudi Arabia, 2020

Le Maire supports a free-market economy. This means he wants less government control over businesses. He has suggested selling off France's job offices and ending jobs that are paid for by the government. He also wants to limit welfare payments. Since becoming Minister, he has worked to make the government less involved in the economy. He is also in charge of selling airports and other companies owned by the state.

In 2016, Le Maire said that Britain leaving the European Union (Brexit) was a "great chance for France." He thought it would remove the main country that pushed for fewer rules in Europe. On 9 July 2017, he promised to create a plan to protect French companies from being bought by foreign companies.

Regarding foreign trade, Le Maire did not support a big trade deal called TTIP. He also wanted a trade policy that protects French businesses more. This would help against unfair competition from countries like China.

In August 2017, Le Maire asked EU countries to work harder on how they tax digital companies. He said that companies like Airbnb were paying too little tax in France. He called these low tax payments "unacceptable."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Le Maire and Germany's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, helped the EU agree on a 500 billion euro plan. This money was to help workers, companies, and governments struggling because of the virus.

In July 2020, Le Maire announced that the French government would cut taxes for French companies by 20 million euros over two years.

Ideas on Brexit

On 20 July 2017, Le Maire caused some discussion when he said that the United Kingdom still owed the EU about €100 billion. Other European leaders also believed the UK would owe a large amount after leaving the EU. He also promised to set up a special court in France for financial contracts that follow English law after Brexit.

Speaking to the BBC in January 2019, Le Maire said that the Brexit agreement could not be changed. He said it was up to the UK to find a way forward. He also said that leaving the EU without a deal would be "very bad" for the UK.

Ideas on Foreign Policy

Le Maire follows a traditional French foreign policy idea called Gaullism. This means he supports France being independent in its decisions. He wants Europe to have a stronger defense policy. This would help protect Europe's borders and fight terrorism. He also thinks Germany should spend more money on its military.

In February 2019, Le Maire did not agree with Germany's ban on selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. He said it was not useful to make weapons together if they could not be sold. Germany had banned sales after a Saudi journalist was killed and because of human rights concerns.

On 1 March 2022, Le Maire warned that the EU would "cause the collapse" of the Russian economy. He said France would not agree to Russia's demand that foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in rubles. He added that they were getting ready for a situation where there would be "no longer any Russian gas."

Bruno Le Maire's Personal Life

Bruno Le Maire and his family, 2007

Le Maire is married to Pauline Doussau de Bazignan. They have four children. Their family has a holiday home in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle.

Bruno Le Maire in Movies

In the movie La Conquête (The Conquest), released in 2011, Bruno Le Maire was played by actor Emmanuel Noblet. This movie was about Nicolas Sarkozy's career.

Le Maire also appeared briefly as himself in Bertrand Tavernier's movie The French Minister (2013).

Awards and Honours

French Awards

France: Commander of the Ordre du Mérite Maritime (2009)
France: Commander of the Ordre du Mérite Agricole (as Minister of Agriculture)

Awards from Other Countries

Denmark: Commander 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog (2018)
Germany: Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2022)
Senegal: Commander of the National Order of the Lion (2019)

Other Awards

"Humor and Politics Prize" from the Press Club of France (2016)

Images for kids

Bruno Le Maire in 2007
Le Maire talking with Jean-Louis Debré and his constituents in Évreux
Bruno Le Maire speaking at a public event in 2013
Le Maire in Brussels, 2014
Bruno Le Maire (left), Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem (centre) and Greek Minister of Finance Euclid Tsakalotos (right), 2017
Le Maire arriving at an Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in September 2017
Le Maire and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the G20 Riyadh Summit in Saudi Arabia, 2020
Bruno Le Maire and his family, 2007