While Stéphane Séjourné, until then Chair of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, was appointed French Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday 11 January, following a reshuffle of the government by French President Emmanuel Macron, the race for the Renaissance presidential party’s nomination has been relaunched for the European elections.
With only five months to go before the elections, this decision comes as a surprise to many, since Mr Séjourné, who is also Secretary General of Renaissance, had been approached to lead the party’s European campaign.
The future head of the Renaissance list is not yet known, but several names have been mentioned in the media, including Olivier Véran, former Minister of Health and government spokesman, and Clément Beaune, former Minister of Transport and former Secretary of State for Europe.
With regard to the Renew Europe group’s leadership, Dutch MEP Malik Azmani, the group’s first vice-chair, has been appointed interim chair.
Mr Séjourné is expected to be replaced as an MEP by Guy Lavocat. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)