In France’s politics, Europe is increasingly in the hands of women. After Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna and Laurence Boone, Secretary of State for Europe, a third woman is now taking care of Europe for President Emmanuel Macron. Garance Pineau succeeds Alexandre Adam and Clément Beaune as advisor for European affairs at the Elysée Palace.
Pineau has long been active in the European arena. For over two years, she was most recently head of cabinet for the Secretary of State for European Affairs. Since 2018, she has worked as head of European affairs for Macron’s La République en Marche movement. Before that, she spent a year as diplomatic adviser to former Labor Minister Muriel Pénicaud. She also handled European affairs at the French employers’ federation Medef from 2013 to 2017. Europe has also been at the center of her studies. She holds a master’s degree in European and international law from the University of Paris Sud, where she graduated in 2000.
Pineau is very well connected in the EU, where she campaigned for Macron’s project of a strong Europe, but in France she is still an unknown quantity among the general public. She is avowedly pro-European and opposed nationalist currents in Europe. “We have a huge responsibility to reorient the European project,” as she once declared a few years ago.
Employees described her as skilled in negotiations, moving things forward. A pragmatist who focuses less on big words and more on action. At Medef, she was present at negotiations in the EU and represented the association at key international organizations. She has worked closely with Clément Beaune on Macron’s proposals for conditions under which Europeans can work in other European countries. Tanja Kuchenbecker