A quiet figure in politics has passed away... Marielle de Sarnez, a deputy and former Minister for European Affairs under Prime Minister Édouard Philippe's first government, died on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. The announcement was made on Wednesday evening by her colleague from the MoDem party, François Bayrou. The centrist party's number two and current Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly was battling leukemia.
"Today, we've lost too much. Marielle, so talented and brave, Marielle de Sarnez has just passed away. Our sorrow is immense."
This heartfelt tribute was tweeted by the High Commissioner for Planning, honoring a politician who cut her teeth in Paris. A native of the capital, she was elected as a Paris Councilor in 2001 for the 14th arrondissement, then became president of the UDF federation in Paris in 2006, before joining the Modem in 2008 following the party’s various reorganizations. By 2009, Marielle de Sarnez was on a much larger stage, serving as a Member of the European Parliament.This milestone was soon followed in 2017 when Édouard Philippe, the newly appointed Prime Minister, appointed her as Minister for European Affairs. However, she held this position for only a month and four days, as she was pushed out amidst the launch of a preliminary investigation into a case of fake jobs within the European Parliament. Despite her resignation, she quickly moved on to become an LREM deputy for Paris's 11th constituency, and later assumed the role of chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly.
