Born in 1959, South-East France. He graduated in medicine and became Director of a private hospital in Marseilles. He was a Councillor from 1992-1995 and an MP in Bouches-du-Rhône from 1993-2012 and a Regional Councillor in Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur from 2004-2007. He was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under the Raffarin 1 and 2 governments from 2002-2005, first Deputy Mayor of Marseilles from 1995-2008 and first Vice-Chairman of Marseilles Provence Metropole from 2001-2013. He was also Chairman of the Cultural Council of the Union for the Mediterranean from 2009-2013, Chairman of the High Council for the Arab World Institute from 2011-2013 and Special Adviser to President Jacques Chirac for French expatriates from 2005-2007. He was a founding member of the UMP political head office in 2002. MEP since 2014.