Pascal Canfin (born in Arras on 22 August 1974) is a French politician, currently serving as Deputy Minister for Development under the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A member of Europe Écologie–The Greens, he was a Member of the European Parliament between the 2009 European election, when he was elected in the Île-de-France constituency, and his appointment to Government.

Biography[link]

Pascal Canfin graduated initially from the Bordeaux Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and then from Newcastle University.

Between 2003 and 2009, he was a journalist for the monthly magazine Alternatives économiques and a specialist for questions linked to the environment, social economy as well as corporate social responsibility.

Prior to that he was a human resources consultant (1999–2003), after being a representative of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) trade union for Nord-Pas-de-Calais (1997–1999).

Political career[link]

Alongside his journalistic work, Pascal Canfin got politically involved with the Greens (France) in France. He was responsible for the party’s Economic, Social and Public Services Committee between 2005 and 2009.

He has been a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens since its creation in 2010.

Member of the European Parliament[link]

At the 2009 European elections, Canfin was third candidate on the list put up by Europe Écologie, an electoral alliance of which the Greens were part, in Île-de-France, behind Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Eva Joly. With 20,86% of the votes, Europe Écologie got four seats, and Canfin was elected a Member of the European Parliament on the 7th of June 2009.

In the European Parliament, Pascal Canfin sat of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and was a substitute member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was also a Vice Chairman of the Special Committe for the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis, a member of the Special Committee on Organised Crime in the EU, and a Vice Chairman of the Public Services Intergroup.

Canfin was the rapporteur on the regulation of short selling and credit default swaps (CDS). His report was discussed in the Economic Affairs Committee in January 2011, and voted as such in the Plenary Session in July 2011. He has also been a negotiator on behalf of The Greens–European Free Alliance group on several legislative texts:

• Directive for a European Financial Transaction Tax (in process);
• Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies (in process);
• Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) (in process);
• Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM);
• European Market Infrastructure Regulation.

In June 2010, Canfin initiated a call to the MEPs of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to create a non-governmental organisation capable of developing a counter-expertise on financial activities lead by the main financial operators (banks, insurance companies, hedge funds etc.). The call was named Finance Watch. He was joined by about one hundred European, national and regional elected representatives within the European Union. A year later, in June 2011, Finance Watch was set up as a NGO.

Minister for Development[link]

On 16 May 2012, Pascal Canfin was appointed as Deputy Minister for Development under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius

Books[link]

• Consommer responsable [Responsible Consuming]. 2008.
• L’Économie verte expliquée à ceux qui n’y croient pas [Green Economy Explained to Those Who Do Not Believe in It]. Petits Matins, 2007.
• Le Contrat écologique pour l’Europe [The Ecological Contract for Europe]. Petits Matins, 2009.
• Ce que les banques vous disent et pourquoi il ne faut presque jamais les croire [What Banks Tell You and Why You Should Almost Never Believe Them]. Petits Matins, 2012.

References[link]

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.