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The Hauser Global Law School Program and the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice at New York University School of Law presented The Annual Emile Noel Lecture on March 6, 2005. The lecture, entitled "The State of the (European) Union: The Adoption of the European Constitution and Its Impact on the U.S./EU Relationship" was delivered by Valery Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Convention.
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Valery Giscard d'Estaing Rita Hauser Professor J.H.H. Weiler Dean Richard Revesz |
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Valery Giscard d'Estaing Invited Guest |
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Valery Giscard d'Estaing Invited Guest |
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Valery Giscard d'Estaing Rita Hauser |
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Valery Giscard d'Estaing was born in February 1926. He joined the French Resistance and later enlisted and served in the French and German campaigns for which he received the Croix de Guerre. After studying at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, he joined the Inspection Generale des Finances in 1952. During these first years of public service, President Giscard d'Estaing was first Deputy Director to the Office of the Minister of Finance, and then to Edgar Faure, President of the Council of Ministers.
From 1956 to 1974 he was elected to various posts including: Deputy of the Puy-de-Dome department, during which time he was re-elected four times to the National Assembly; Mayor of Chamalieres (Puy-de-Dome); and to the General Council of the Puy-de-Dome, serving until 1974 and elected again in 1982.
From 1959 to 1962 he served as Secretary of State for Finance in the Finance Ministries of Antoine Pinay and Wilfrid Baumgartner. From 1962 to 1966 he served as the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in the Bedre and Pompidou Governments under President Charles de Gaulle. From 1969 to 1974 he served as the Minister of Economy and Finance in the Chaban-Delmas and Messmer Governments under President Georges Pompidou.
On May 19, 1974, he was elected President of the French Republic, a position he held until 1981. President Giscard d'Estaing played a crucial role in several international initiatives during his tenure including: the creation of the European Council, the election by universal suffrage of the European Parliament, creation of the European Monetary System, and the creation of the world summits of chiefs of state and heads of governments of the principal industrialized democracies.
After his presidency, President Giscard d'Estaing continued his public service at many different levels holding offices such as President of the Regional Council of Auvergne, President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly, Depute of the European Parliament, and Depute for the Puy-de-Dome. In 2001, he was appointed President of the European Convention (Convention on the Future of Europe) by the European Council of Laeken.
Since 1995 he has been a member of the Real Academia de Ciencias Economicas y Financieras (Spain), has been awarded the Medaille d'Or Jean Monnet for Europe and the Prix Charlemagne, and was elected as a Member of the Academie Francaise in 2003. Lastly, he has published several books over his lifetime including French Democracy, Two French Out of Three, Power and Life Volumes 1 & 2, Le Passage, In Five Years Year 2000, and Les Francais. In 2003, President Giscard d'Estaing presented la Constitution pour l'Europe.