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Concept
Harlem Désir
Summary
Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir (aʁ.lɛm de.ziʁ; born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who served in the government of France as Secretary of State for European Affairs from 2014 to 2017. Previously he was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. Since 2017, he has served as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.
Born in Paris, Harlem Désir is the son of a Martinican father and an Alsatian mother. He grew up in a housing project in Bagneux, north of Paris.
Désir studied at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, where he earned a license in philosophy in 1983. Also in 1983, he emerged as a leader from that year's social unrest in France and helped organize the March for Equality and Against Racism (the so-called March of the Beurs) that started in the immigrant neighborhoods outside Lyon and ended in Paris.
Harlem Désir was briefly active in the JCR, the youth organization of the Revolutionary Communist League. Désir was the first president of the French anti-racist organisation SOS Racisme between 1984 and 1992. Under his leadership, the organization grew significantly in membership and acquired significant influence in French public life. Accused of misusing public assets from 1986 to 1987, he was sentenced to an 18 months suspended sentence and a 30,000 francs fine in 1998.
Désir first became a Member of the European Parliament following the 1999 European elections. A member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group, he was re-elected in 2004 and 2009.
In his first parliamentary term from 1999 until 2004, Désir served on the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy. From 2004 to 2009, he was a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. In this capacity, he served as the parliament's rapporteur on the 2008 Temporary Agency Work Directive. In his last term, he joined the Committee on International Trade. He also served as deputy chairman of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group.
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