Olivier Dussopt

Olivier Dussopt (born 16 August 1978 in Annonay, Ardèche) is French politician[1] who has been serving as Secretary of State to the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts in the governments of successive Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex since 2019.[2] He was a member of the National Assembly from 2007 to 2017

Olivier Dussopt
Secretary of State to the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts
Assumed office
24 November 2017
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe
Jean Castex
Member of the National Assembly
for Ardèche's 2nd constituency
In office
17 June 2007 – 24 December 2017
Preceded byGérard Weber
Succeeded byMichèle Victory
Mayor of Annonay
In office
16 March 2008 – 10 July 2017
Preceded byGérard Weber
Succeeded byAntoinette Scherer
Member of the Regional council of Rhône-Alpes
In office
10 July 2006 – 17 March 2008
Personal details
Born (1978-08-16) 16 August 1978
Annonay, France
Political partyPS (2000-2017)
Independent (from 2017)
Alma materGrenoble Institute of Political Studies

Career

Dussopt was a member of the Socialist Party from 2000 to 2017. From 2007 until 2017, he was a member of the National Assembly. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Economic Affairs (2007-2009) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2009-2017).[3]

In addition to his parliamentary activities, Dussopt worked on Manuel Valls’ campaign team in the Socialist Party's primaries for the 2017 presidential election.[4] Following the 2017 French legislative election, he was among a minority that voted against the Philippe government's proposal for the 2018 national budget.[5][6]

On 27 November 2017, Dussopt was appointed by President Macron to the position of Secretary of State to the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts, under the leadership of minister Gérald Darmanin. Soon after that, he was expelled from the Socialist Party.[7] On 24 December 2017 he resigned from the National Assembly.

Controversy

On 20 May 2020, French online investigative and opinion newspaper Mediapart revealed that the French utility company Saur gave him a present of lithographs by Gérard Garouste for a value of 2,000 euros in January 2017, just a few days before he announced a contract for a hydroelectric turbine with the same company in his town of Annonay.[8][9]

After the revelations, he initially answered that it was "A gift from a friend", but later he recognized that it was a gift from the company, and he promised to give back the lithographs. Additionally, the Saur employee who gave him the gift declared that he was not a friend of Dussopt, but that Dussopt was just a client.

References
  1. Laure Bretton. "Avant le congrès, les socialistes jouent la carte jeune". Boursier.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  2. Caroline Pailliez (December 10, 2018), Macron concessions to cost between 8-10 billion euros - minister Reuters.
  3. Olivier Dussopt National Assembly.
  4. Primaire à gauche : Valls présente son QG et son état-major de campagne Les Échos, December 14, 2016.
  5. Nicolas Chapuis and Enora Ollivier (November 24, 2017), Olivier Dussopt, un proche de Manuel Valls, entre au gouvernement Le Monde.
  6. Sara Stefanini (November 25, 2017), Macron names Socialist to oversee public finance Politico Europe.
  7. "Remaniement : un promu et deux nouveaux au gouvernement". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  8. "L'art des affaires du ministre Dussopt". Mediapart. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-21. Selon nos informations, le secrétaire d’État Olivier Dussopt s’est fait offrir des œuvres du peintre Gérard Garouste par un dirigeant local de la Saur, l’un des leaders français du marché de l’eau, en affaires avec la municipalité dirigée à la même période par le même Dussopt. Après avoir évoqué à Mediapart un cadeau d’« un ami », l’ex-député a finalement reconnu un « cadeau de l’entreprise » et indique qu’il va le « restituer ».
  9. "Entre deux leçons de morale, Olivier Dussopt se faisait offrir des tableaux par une compagnie d'eau". Marianne. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
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