Paul Magnette

Paul Magnette (born 28 June 1971) is a Belgian politician.

Born on 28 June 1971 in Leuven, he grew up in Charleroi and studied political science at ULB – Free University of Brussels (1989–1994) and at Cambridge University (1994–1995).

His first political involvement was his participation in 1985 in the "Touche pas à mon pote" (Hands off my pal!) campaign organised by SOS Racisme (an anti-racist movement).

He first considered studying journalism, but then opted to study political science.

He was a researcher at the FNRS - Scientific Research Fund (1995–2001) and obtained a PhD in 1999 with a dissertation Citoyenneté et construction européenne.

His research interest is on institutional policies, the European Union, and theories of democracy.

At the end of his studies, he devoted his dissertation, published in 1995, to the poet Pier Paolo Pasolini.

After having written a political science thesis on European citizenship, thanks to authorization from the FNRS, in 1999, he became visiting professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

In 2000, together with Éric Remacle, he was awarded the Exceptional Francqui Prize for European Research.

During the academic year 2000–2001, he became lecturer in political science at ULB - the Free University of Brussels and visiting professor at the IEP in Bordeaux.

In 2001, he was appointed professor of political science at ULB and Director of the Institute of European Studies.

He also teaches at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and has been a visiting professor at several European and North American universities.

He is the author of numerous publications and is the recipient of several scientific awards.

He is also a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium.

Since the academic year 2001–2002, Paul Magnette was professor of political science at ULB.

He was director of the Institute of European Studies at ULB from 2001 to 2007.

He was also visiting professor at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa in 2002, the University of Lausanne in 2005, and the European University Institute in Florence during the same year.

A Jean Monnet Chair ad personam was attributed to him in 2003.

He was appointed minister in the Belgian federal government from 2007 to 2013 and was Minister-President of Wallonia from 2014 to 2017.

He also was a member of the Senate of Belgium, of the Parliament of Wallonia and of the Parliament of the French Community.

On 20 July 2007, Magnette became minister for Health, Social Action and Equal Opportunity of the Walloon government.

On 21 December 2007, he became minister for Climate and Energy in the Verhofstadt III federal government.

He held the post in the Leterme I Government and held the same post of minister for Climate and Energy in the Van Rompuy I Government, which took office on 30 December 2008, and in the Leterme II Government (25 November 2009 to on 5 December 2011).

In the Di Rupo Government, which took office on 6 December 2011, Magnette was Minister for Public Enterprises, Scientific Policy and Development Cooperation until 17 January 2013.

Since 2012, he is also mayor of Charleroi.

At academic level, he is a former political science professor at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) and Director of the Institute of European Studies of the ULB.

He was elected mayor of Charleroi during the elections of October 2012 and three months later, he was named President of the Socialist Party.

Following the regional elections in 2014, he was elected Minister-President of the Walloon government.

He won renown notably through his opposition to the CETA free-trade agreement.

Dismissed following a motion of censure in 2017, he returned to his mayoral position and was re-elected at the October 2018 elections.

Since 2019, he is the leader of the Socialist Party, social democratic French-speaking party in Belgium.

In October 2019, he again returned to the role of President of the Socialist Party.

The King entrusted him with the role of informant to gather information regarding the formation of a new government, then (together with Bart De Wever) the role of ‘pré-formateur’ to pave the way for a new government, and finally, ‘co-formateur’ (with Alexander Decroo) and thereby contribute to forming a new federal government which took up its role in October 2020.

His parents met in Leuven when they were students and then they moved to Charleroi, to the multi-cultural working class district of Marchienne-au-Pont.

His mother, a lawyer, was always very involved in social issues.

His father, a doctor, created the first medical centres in Belgium.

With communist parents, driven by the post-May 68 struggles, Paul Magnette grew up in a resolutely left-wing political environment.

Together they founded "L'autre Maison" in Roux, a place where the most disadvantaged could find doctors, lawyers, physiotherapists and nurses.

His father died of an illness at the young age of 39.

Paul Magnette was just 17 years old at the time, the eldest of two brothers and a sister.