Born on 4 April 1962 in Pessoux, Ciney. Married and 3 children.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Higher vocational diploma in legal sciences obtained at the IESN (Namur)
Extra training in European social law
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Parliamentary attaché and employee in Belgian French-speaking non-profit sector (1995 - 1997)
Secretary-general of a non-governmental organisation active in the youth sector and on an international level (1997 - 2001)
Advisor for the office of Mr Michel FORET, Walloon Minister for Town and Country Planning, Urban Development and the Environment (2001 - 2004)
ENGAGEMENT AND POLITICAL FUNCTIONS
Municipal councillor in Somme-Leuze (January 1989 - October 2014)
Mayor of Somme-Leuze (1995 - 2014)
Provincial councillor in Namur (1994 - 2004)
President of the provincial council of Namur (1995 - 2000)
Walloon MP and MP of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (2004 - 2014)
Head of the MR-group in the Walloon parliament (2009 - 2014)
President of the MR-federation in the province of Namur (2004 - 2014)
National executive vice-president of the MR (2009 - 2014)
Federal Minister for Small Business Owners, SMEs, the Self-Employed, Agriculture and Social Integration responsible for the policy regarding the railway system and the regulation of railway and air traffic (2014-2017)
Minister-President of the Walloon Government (Since 28 July 2017)
Vice-President of the Walloon Government and Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade, Research and Innovation, New technologies, Agriculture, Urban and Spatial planning and Competence centers
Other functions
Administrator of several hospitals (CHR – AISBS – Vivalia (1991 - 2014))
Administrator of companies active in the energy sector (2010 - 2014)
Administrator of the Union des Villes et des Communes de Wallonie (1995 - 2014)
Active member of the Sustainable Development Committee and subsequently of the
Governance Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (2003 - 2014)
PUBLICATIONS
« Appel pour le redressement de la Wallonie », work co-written with Charles MICHEL (September 2013)
« The European Charter of Local Self-Government in domestic law », report presented at the 21st session of the Governance Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (29 September 2011).
« Pour une politique de la biodiversité en milieu urbain », report presented at the spring session of the Sustainable Development Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (5 February 2008)