Career
He is a substitute on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, on the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In February 2010, he has been elected head of the French delegation of the EPP group in the European parliament. He holds a degree in chartered accountancy, a post-graduate diploma in taxation, finance, and business law, which he earned in Clermont-Ferrand.
He studied at the Clermont-Ferrand Business School and obtained a master"s degree in economics.
He received a post-graduate diploma from the Institute of Business Management in Clermont-Ferrand and is a graduate of the International Student Center of the University of California, Los Los Angeles He founded a firm of auditors in 1995 and a chartered accountancy practice in 1979.
From 1977 to 2000 he was the technical advisor to the International Auditing Practices Committee of the International Federation of Accountants, and fromJune 2004 to June 2006 he was France"s representative to the Small and Medium Practices Permanent Task Force. He was chairman of the Tulle and Ussel Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1998 until June 2005, chairman of the Limousin Poitou-Charentes Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2001 to 2003, and Vice-President of the Assembly of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry from 2001 to 2004.
He is a Knight of the Legion of Honor and a Knight of the Ordre des Palmes académiques.