Pascal Durand Explained

Pascal Durand
Office:Member of the European Parliament
Term Start:1 July 2014
Term End:15 July 2024
Constituency:France
Office2:National Secretary of Europe Ecology – The Greens
Term Start2:23 June 2012
Term End2:30 November 2013
Predecessor2:Cécile Duflot
Successor2:Emmanuelle Cosse
Birth Date:3 October 1960
Birth Place:Montreuil, France
Nationality:French
Party:Europe Ecology – The Greens (2010–2016)
La République En Marche! (2019–2022)

Pascal Durand (born 3 October 1960) is a French lawyer[1] and politician of La République En Marche ! (LREM) who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2024.

Political career

Career in national politics

Durand was elected spokesperson for Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) at the party's 2011 congress in La Rochelle. He later served as national secretary of EELV from 23 June 2012 to 30 November 2013, succeeding Cécile Duflot.

In the EELV primaries ahead of the 2012 presidential elections, Durand served as director of candidate Nicolas Hulot's campaign. When Hulot eventually lost against Eva Joly, Durand joined Joly's campaign team.[2]

Member of the European Parliament

Since 2014, Durand has been a Member of the European Parliament. In May 2019, he was reelected, this time as member of the Renew Europe group.

In parliament, Durand has been serving on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs since 2014. On the Committee, he serves as coordinator for the Renew Europe group where he works to reform EU institutions and to launch the works of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Since 2021, he has been part of the Parliament's delegation to the Conference.[3]

Durand is also a substitute member of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT). In the past, he was a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (2014-2019) and the Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (2016-2017) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly. Notably, he authored an own-initiative report on the extension of product lifetime (2017)[4] [5] and served as lead rapporteur on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (2022).[6]

In February 2016, Durand left EELV to join Nicolas Hulot's campaign for the 2017 presidential elections.[7]

In 2019, Durand was the only French delegate to vote against the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.[8] `

In addition to his committee assignments, Durand is part of the European Parliament Intergroup on Fighting against Poverty,[9] the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals,[10] the Responsible Business Conduct Working Group,[11] the MEPs Against Cancer group[12] and the Spinelli Group.[13]

Pascal Durand led the negotiation on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive as rapporteur for the European Parliament.[14]

Political positions

In the preparations for a Conference on the Future of Europe in 2020, Durand proposed Joschka Fischer and Emma Bonino as potential chairs for the conference.[15]

In May 2021, Durand joined a group of 39 mostly Green Party lawmakers from the European Parliament who in a letter urged the leaders of Germany, France and Italy not to support Arctic LNG 2, a $21 billion Russian Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, due to climate change concerns.[16]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Thierry Lévêque (23 June 2012), Pascal Durand, patron tranquille d'un parti écologiste turbulent Reuters.
  2. Thierry Lévêque (June 23, 2012), Pascal Durand, patron tranquille d'un parti écologiste turbulent Reuters.
  3. https://conference-delegation.europarl.europa.eu/en/members.html Members of the delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe
  4. Quentin Soubranne (July 6, 2017), Obsolescence programmée : vers la fin d'un grand gâchis Le Point.
  5. Marion Candau (February 15, 2018), France pushes for product ‘lifetime’ labelling EURACTIV.
  6. Andreas Rogal (12 January 2022), MEPs clash over scope of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive The Parliament Magazine.
  7. Jules Pecnard (February 1, 2016), L'ex-patron d'EELV Pascal Durand quitte le parti pour rejoindre Nicolas Hulot Le Figaro.
  8. Web site: French applaud EU copyright reform vote. Barbière. Cécile. 2018-09-14. euractiv.com. en-GB. 2019-03-29.
  9. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/files/organisation-and-rules/organisation/intergroups/list-of-members-fighting-against-poverty.pdf Intergroup on Fighting against Poverty
  10. http://www.animalwelfareintergroup.eu/about-us/members/ Members
  11. https://responsiblebusinessconduct.eu/wp/members/ Members
  12. https://www.europeancancerleagues.org/meps-against-cancer-about-meps-against-cancer-2/ MAC MEPs in the 2019-24 legislature
  13. https://thespinelligroup.eu/board-members/ Board & Members
  14. Web site: REPORT on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, as regards corporate sustainability reporting | A9-0059/2022 | European Parliament .
  15. Maïa de La Baume (October 13, 2020), New names in frame to preside over conference on EU’s future Politico Europe.
  16. Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop (19 May 2021), EU lawmakers urge France, Germany, Italy to ditch Arctic LNG 2 support Reuters.