Appointed February 25th, 2010 by the
President of the Senate
Took the oath of office on March 12th, 2010 before the President of the Republic
Born May 20th, 1942 in Pompey (Meurthe-et-Moselle)
Education
Law degree; Criminology diploma
Graduated first of his class from the French National School for the Judiciary
Career
Politics
1976, December : Founding Member of the French Democracy Association
1977, 13 March / 2001, March : Honorary Mayor of Lapoutroie (Haut-Rhin)
1977 / 1995 : President of the Weiss Valley (Haut-Rhin) Intercommunal Syndicate with Multiple Vocations (SIVOM)
1983, 6 March / 1995 : President of the Montcheuil Foundation
1986, 28 September / 2010, 12 March : Haut-Rhin Senator
1986, October : Vice-President of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) at the Senate
1992 / 2010, 12 March : Vice-President of the Alsace Regional Council
Elected Member of Parliament of the Year 1995
1995 / 1997 : President of the Bioscope Association (theme park about life and health) 1998 / 2000, 19 January : Senate Secretary
1998, 12 January / 2010, 12 March : President of Symbio (a Bioscope joint association, created to carry out the Bioscope project)
2003, June / 2004 : Secretary General of the New Republic Association
2005, December / 2010, 12 March : Member of the LOLF Friends Club =
Law
1971, 10 July / 1973, 15 July : Judge at the Ministry of Justice's central administration (notably as the Department of the Judiciary Director's Chief of Staff)
1973, 15 July / 1974, 2 March : Technical adviser to the Secretary of State for the Prime Minister (Paul Dijoud)
1975 / 1977 : Technical adviser to the President of the Republic for legal and judiciary issues
1975 : Secretary General of the Supreme Judicial Council
1975, September / 1977 : Appointed Substitute Prosecutor of the High Court (Civil Division) of Meaux
1976 / 1986 : Associate Professor at the University of Aix-Marseille-III and the Institute of Political Science in Aix (French political, administrative, and judicial
institutions)
1977 / 1986 : Member of the Council of State
1981, March / 1985, September : Government Commissioner to the special Pension Cassation Commission at the Council of State
Since 1996 : President of the Commission on the Harmonisation of local Alsace-Moselle laws
Since 2008, 24 January : Vice-President of the Circle of Constitutional Experts' governing board
Justice and security
1986, June : Member of the Commission established to Reflect on the Rationalisation of the Ministry of Justice's Structures
1991 : President of the Committee of Inquiry on the Functioning of the Judiciary
1992 : President of the Committee of Inquiry on the Functioning of Administrative Justice
1993 : Co-chair of the working group on local justice
1993 : Rapporteur for the constitutional reform
1993, October : President of the Study Commission on the Forms and Content of a Local Justice System
1997, October / 2004, October : Special Rapporteur for the budget of Justice
2001, 16 October / 2010, 12 March : Member of the Court of Justice of the Republic
2007 / 2010, 12 March : Member of the National Committee for Security Intercepts Control
2010, 12 March : Member of the Constitutional Council appointed by the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher
Défence
Colonel of the Police Force (operational reserve)
1977 / 1978 : Auditor of the 30th Institute of Advanced Studies of National Defence (IHEDN) national session
1993, October : Member of Parliament on a military reserve mission for the Minister of Defence
2007, 14 November / 2010, 12 March : Member of the Senate's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces Committee's working group on the future of police organisation and missions
Spatial planning
1986, January : Mission officer for the study and proposition of administrative simplification in rural areas
1987, February / 1995 : President of the senatorial working group on mountains
1990 / 1995 : President of the senatorial working group for rural development (GESAR)
1993 : President of the Committee of Inquiry on the Functioning of SNCF
Initiator of the regionalisation experimentation for rail transport
1996 / 2008, 20 February : SNCF Administrator
1998, March / 2010 : President (RPR then UMP) of the Transport, Large-scale Facilities, and Regional Planning Committee of the Alsace Regional Council
1999, 11 March / 2010, 12 March : Full Member of the Decentralisation Committee
1999, 11 May / 2010, 12 March : Administrator (representing the Alsace region) of the National Rhône Company
1999 : President of the Rhine Territorial Commission of French Inland Waterways
2002, 1st of September / 2003, 1st of March : Member of Parliament expert on rail freight for the Minister of Equipment, Transport, Housing, Tourism and Sea and for the Secretary
of State for Transport and Sea
2003, 28 August: Member of the Steering Committee for the Research and Innovation Program in Land Transport 2002-2006
2008, 29 April / 2008, 8 October: Member of Parliament expert on the evolution of the railway system for the Secretary of State in charge of Transport
Health and Environment
1974, 2 March / 1974, 24 May : Chief of Staff of the Secretary of State for the Environment (Paul Dijoud) under the Minister of Cultural and Environmental Affairs
1974, 24 May / 1975, September : Chief of Staff for the Minister of Quality of Life (André Jarrot)
1979, August : Rapporteur-General for the working group, presided by Prof. Jean Bernard, in charge of establishing an action plan against alcoholism
1980 / 1986 : Member of the High Study and Information Committee on Alcoholism
European and International Responsibilities
1999, February : Rapporteur, on behalf of the European Union, for the follow-up on Malta's accession procedure to the European Union
1999, 6 October / 2010, 12 March : President of the Senate's European Affairs Commission (formerly the Delegation for the European Union)
2000 : Member of the Convention responsible for drafting the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
2000, 3 October : Member of the French delegation at the 55th session of the United Nations General Assembly
2001, 10 October : Member of the French delegation at the 56th session of the United Nations General Assembly
2002, 25 September : Member of the French delegation at the 57th session of the United Nations General Assembly
2002, 28 February / 2003, 10 July : Member of the Convention on the Future of Europe
2002, September : Member of the Council of European and International Prospects for Agriculture and Food at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
2003, 3 October : Member of the French delegation at the 58th session of the United Nations General Assembly
2005, January / 2006, December : First Vice-President of the European Movement in France
2006, 18 December : Member of the Honorary Committee of the Treaty of Rome's 50th Anniversary
2006 / 2010, 12 March : Member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)
2007, 22 September : Member of the French delegation at the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly
2007, October / 2007, 22 November : Draftsman for the French presidency of the European Union programme's budget (Government Action Mission)
2007, December : Member of the Steering Committee for European issues in charge of preparing the French Presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2008
2009, 4 February / 2010, 12 March : President of the interparliamentary group France-Holy See
DistincHonours and Awards
Officer of the Legion of Honour (2010)
Officer of the National Order of Merit (1979)
Knight of the Order of Academic Palms
Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit
Commander of the Federal Republic of Germany's Merit of Order (2008)
Grosse silberne Ehrenzeichen mit dem stern für Uerdienste Um die Republik Österreich (Austria)
Maarjamaa Risti teise klassi ordeni (Estonia)
Publications
Politics
Le Partage des mots, Strasbourg, Chantrel, 1991
De facteur à sénateur, chemin faisant..., Strasbourg, La Nuée bleue/DNA, collection Figures d'Alsace, 2003
Justice
Justice sinistrée, démocratie en danger, Paris, Economica, 1991
Le service public de la justice (coll.), Paris, Odile Jacob, 1998
Les infractions sans suite ou la délinquance mal traitée (rapport à la Commission des Finances du Sénat), Sénat, 1998
Le Juge et le politique (coll.), Paris, PUF, 1998
Défense
La Défense nationale, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je ?", 1982 (réédité en 1989)
La Gendarmerie (coll.), Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je ?", 1983 (réédité en 1999)
La Marine nationale, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je ?", 1986
L'Armée de l'Air, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je ?", 1986
L'Armée de Terre, Paris, PUF, collection "Que sais-je ?", 1987
Le plan de valorisation des réserves : un deuxième souffle pour les armées, rapport au Premier ministre, 1994
La gendarmerie nationale, une institution républicaine au service du citoyen, Paris, Odile Jabob, 2000
Aménagement du territoire
Le monde rural, une chance pour la France, rapport au ministre de l'Agriculture, 1986
L'Avenir de l'espace rural français (coll.), Paris, Economica, 1991
Fret ferroviaire français : la nouvelle bataille du rail (en collaboration avec François Gerbaud), La Documentation française, 2003
Des régions à l'Europe : les nouveaux défis du chemin de fer français, La Documentation française, 2008
Des régions à l'Europe : les nouveaux défis du chemin de fer français (rapport d'information du Sénat), Sénat, 2009
Europe
Justice, police et sécurité dans l'Union européenne, Paris, Fondation Robert Schuman, 2003
Enraciner l'Europe (en collaboration avec François Sicard), Paris, Seuil, 2003
Les Parlements nationaux, un appui pour l'Europe, Paris, Fondation Robert Schuman, 2006
Réflexions d'un ancien conventionnel sur la relance européenne, Paris, Fondation Robert Schuman, 2007
Les parlements nationaux et l'Union européenne après le Traité de Lisbonne (rapport d'information du Sénat), Sénat, 2008
Appointed February 25th, 2010 by the
President of the Senate
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