Dominique Baudis

Dominique Baudis (September 2009)

Dominique Baudis (born 14 April 1947 in Paris) is the French ombudsman. Formerly a journalist, politician and Mayor of Toulouse, he had been a member of DL and later of the leading centre-right Union for a Popular Movement.

A journalist, he became a foreign correspondent for TF1 in the Middle East from 1976 to 1977. He was even news anchor on TF1 from 1977 to 1980 and from 1980 to 1982 on FR3.

A member of the CDS (a member of the centre-right UDF, he was elected to replace his father, Pierre Baudis as mayor of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) in the French municipal elections, 1983. In 1984, he was elected to the European Parliament, in 1986 he became President of the Regional Council of the Midi-Pyrénées, also in 1986 he was elected to the French National Assembly representing Haute-Garonne's 1st constituency. He won re-elected in 1988, 1993 and 1997.

He led the UDF-RPR list in the 1994 European election.

In 2001, Jacques Chirac nominated him to become President of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), a post which he held until 2007, when Chirac nominated him to be President of the Arab World Institute.

In 2009, the UMP nominated him to lead the UMP list in the South-West for the 2009 European election. His list won 26.89% and he was elected to the European Parliament for a third time. For the first time, the Presidential Majority (meaning all the parties gathered around Nicolas Sarkozy) scored four Seats in the European Parliament, two more than the Socialist Party, French South-West's leading force. In some urban areas, as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Bayonne or Montpellier, he scorded more than 30%.

In July 2009, he was elected Vice-President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, and on November 2009 he was named rapporteur on the Association Agreement with Syria.

Baudis was nominated by the Prime Minister to the new office of Defender of Rights, essentially an ombudsman role, and was appointed by the Council of State with effect from July 2011.

External links

• Dominique Baudis' Official Website (French)
• Dominique Baudis' Official Facebook Profile (French)
• Website of the Défenseur des Droits (French)

References

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.