Marielle de Sarnez

Marielle de Sarnez
De Sarnez in 2008
Minister for European Affairs
In office
17 May 2017  19 June 2017
Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe
Preceded byHarlem Désir
Succeeded byNathalie Loiseau
Member of the National Assembly
for Paris's 11th constituency
In office
21 June 2017  13 January 2021
Preceded byPascal Cherki
Succeeded byMaud Gatel
Member of the European Parliament
In office
20 July 1999  17 May 2017
ConstituencyÎle-de-France
Personal details
Born(1951-03-27)27 March 1951
Paris, France
Died13 January 2021(2021-01-13) (aged 69)
Paris, France
Cause of deathLeukemia
Political partyDemocratic Movement (2008–2021)
Other political
affiliations
Union for French Democracy (1978–2008)

Marielle de Sarnez (French: [ma.ʁjɛl saʁ.nɛz]; 27 March 1951  13 January 2021) was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for European Affairs under Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.

A member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) until 2008 when she joined the Democratic Movement (MoDem), de Sarnez was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 until her appointment as Minister for European Affairs in the Phillipe government in 2017. De Sarnez resigned after a month due to a scandal involving alleged payment for work she did not perform, but was elected a few days later to represent the 11th constituency of Paris in the National Assembly. She was a committed Europeanist and centrist, pushing the MoDem to resist currents on each end of the political spectrum. De Sarnez was a longtime collaborator to party president and three-time candidate for the presidency of France, François Bayrou.