Born in 1959. Nord-Ouest, France. Founder of the association Espace Intégration in Lille (1987). Manager of projects for young people of immigrant origin (1988-1989). Coordinator of a project to create economic micro-projects in urban districts (1998-1999). Member of the European Parliament (1999-2002). State Secretary for sustainable development in the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin (2002-2004). Instigator of the national strategy on sustainable development (2003). Vice-coordinator of the EPP Group in the International Trade committee of the European Parliament. Chair of the Committee on Political Affairs of the "Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean"(PA-UfM) (since 2004). MEP since 2004.