Éric Besson

Éric Besson
Éric Besson, in 2010.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Digital Economy
In office
14 November 2010  10 May 2012
PresidentNicolas Sarkozy
Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon
Preceded byChristian Estrosi
Succeeded byArnaud Montebourg
Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually-Supportive Development
In office
January 2009  13 November 2010
PresidentNicolas Sarkozy
Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon
Preceded byBrice Hortefeux
Succeeded byVacant
State Secretary for Prospectives and Evaluation of Public Policies
In office
May 2007  January 2009
PresidentNicolas Sarkozy
Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon
Personal details
Born (1958-04-02) 2 April 1958
Marrakech, Morocco
NationalityFrench
Political partyThe Progressives / UMP (since 2007)
Other political
affiliations
Socialist Party (1993–2007)
Spouse(s)Sylvie Brunel
(m. 1983–2009, divorced)
Yasmine Torjdman
(m. 2010–2015, divorced)
Jamila Azeroual
(m. 2015–present)
Children3 (with Sylvie Brunel)
Alma materMontpellier Business School, Sciences Po

Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon.

He left the Socialist Party (PS) during the first round of the 2007 presidential elections to found The Progressives, a social democratic affiliate party of Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). He has been Deputy Secretary-General of the UMP since 2009.

In 2012, Besson established a strategy consulting firm, Eric Besson Consulting, advising international industry and energy firms.