The Regional Council of Grand Est (), formerly the regional council of Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine (), is the deliberative assembly of the region of Grand Est. Jean Rottner of The Republicans (LR) is the current president of the regional council. He was elected on 20 October 2017, following the retirement of Philippe Richert on 30 September 2017.

History The regional council of Grand Est, previously Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine, was created by the act on the delimitation of regions, regional and departmental elections and amending the electoral calendar of 16 January 2015, which went into effect on 1 January 2016 and merged the regional councils of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine, consisting of 47, 49, and 73 regional councillors, respectively, into a single body with 169 regional councillors, following regional elections on 6 and 13 December 2015. The number of representatives elected for these three former regions was recalculated as a result of the reform, with Alsace electing 59 seats, Champagne-Ardenne electing 38 seats, and Lorraine electing 72 seats.

Seat The merger of the regions of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine necessitated the redistribution of administrative functions between the seats of the former regions. Philippe Richert, president of the newly unified region, proposed designating Strasbourg as the new capital and therefore seat of the regional council, with Strasbourg and Metz sharing the standing committee and plenary assembly. On 12 January 2016, Richert announced that Strasbourg would become the capital of the region and seat of the regional council, standing committee, and thematic committees, while the plenary assembly would convene in Metz. He also stated that there would be a "house of the regional council" in the three former regional capitals, located at 1 place Adrien Zeller in Strasbourg, 1 place Gabriel Hocquard in Metz, and 5 rue de Jéricho in Châlons-en-Champagne. The finance committee of the regional council was also relocated to Châlons-en-Champagne. These proposals were approved at a session of the plenary assembly on 29 April during which regional councillors also agreed to rename the region – then known as Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine – to Grand Est, following an online consultation in which 75% of participants voted in favor.

Election results 2015 regional election The current regional council was elected in regional elections on 6 and 13 December 2015, with the list of Philippe Richert consisting of The Republicans (LR), the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), and the Democratic Movement (MoDem) securing an absolute majority of 104 seats. After the first round, Jean-Pierre Masseret of the Socialist Party (PS) refused to withdraw his list before the second round, despite calls by the leadership of the party, as well as a number of members of Masseret's list, to vote for Richert's list in order to stop the National Front from winning the region. As a result, the PS renounced its support for Masseret and stated that he would "not have the Socialist label" in the second round.

Leader List First round Second round SeatsVotes%Votes%Seats% Florian Philippot FN 36.07 36.08 46 27.22 Philippe Richert LR–UDI–MoDem 25.83 48.40 104 61.54 Jean-Pierre Masseret PS–PRG 16.11 15.51 19 11.24 Sandrine Bélier EELV 6.70 Laurent Jacobelli DLF 4.78 Jean-Georges Trouillet UL–––AEI 4.73 Patrick Peron FG–MRC 3.22 Julien Wostyn LO 1.48 David Wentzel UPR 1.08 Total 100.00 100.00 169 100.00 Valid votes 95.49 95.49 Blank votes 2.49 2.27 Null votes 2.02 2.24 Turnout 47.91 59.02 Abstentions 52.09 40.98 Registered voters Source: Ministry of the Interior, Le Monde (parties)

Composition Political groups The regional council currently consists of four political groups.

Political group Members Parties Regional majority 94 LR, UDI, DVD National Rally and related 33 RN The strength of our territories 15 REM It is time for ecology and social justice 14 EELV The left, solidarity and ecology 13 PS, PCF

Executive Presidents President Party Term start Term end Philippe Richert LR 4 January 2016 30 September 2017 Jean-Luc Bohl UDI 30 September 2017 20 October 2017 Jean Rottner LR 20 October 2017 30 December 2022 Franck Leroy DVD 13 January 2023 present

On 4 January 2016, Philippe Richert of The Republicans (LR) was elected president of the Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine region with 102 votes, against 46 votes for Florian Philippot of the National Front (FN), 20 blank votes, and 1 abstention, with the left not contesting the ballot.

Candidate Party Votes% Philippe Richert LR 102 60.36 Florian Philippot FN 46 27.22 Total 169 100.00 Abstentions 1 0.59 Votes 168 99.41 Blank and null votes 20 11.83 Valid votes 148 87.57

On 30 September 2017, Philippe Richert of The Republicans (LR), announced his retirement from politics and resigned his post as president of the regional council. He was replaced in the interim by Jean-Luc Bohl of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) until Jean Rottner was elected as his successor on 20 October. He received 96 votes, failing to secure the support of 8 members of his own group, against 35 votes for Virginie Joron of the FN and 1 vote for Christophe Choserot, a member of La République En Marche! elected under the banner of the Socialist Party (PS) sitting with the left in the regional council. A total of 37 blank and null ballots were cast. The Socialist group did not nominate a candidate and instead submitted blank votes, as did the group of The Patriots in the regional council due to a lack of "credible projects", implicitly rejecting the candidacy of Joron.

Candidate Party Votes% Jean Rottner LR 96 56.80 Virginie Joron FN 35 20.71 Christophe Choserot REM (PS) 1 0.59 Total 169 100.00 Blank and null votes 37 21.89 Valid votes 132 78.11

Vice presidents In addition to the president, the executive of the regional council also includes 15 vice presidents delegated to certain policy areas.

Number Regional councillor Group Delegate for Department 1st vice president Jean-Luc Bohl LR–UDI–MoDem Attractivity and outreach Moselle 2nd vice president Christine Guillemy LR–UDI–MoDem Initial training, lycée and apprenticeship Haute-Marne 3rd vice president David Valence LR–UDI–MoDem Transport, travel and infrastructure Vosges 4th vice president Lilla Merabet LR–UDI–MoDem Competitiveness, digital sector and excellence Bas-Rhin 5th vice president Marc Sebeyran LR–UDI–MoDem Finance, management control, public procurement Aube 6th vice president Valérie Debord LR–UDI–MoDem Employment Meurthe-et-Moselle 7th vice president Xavier Albertini LR–UDI–MoDem Strategy and forecasting Marne 8th vice president Elsa Schalck LR–UDI–MoDem Youth and guidance, engagement, citizenship and territorial democracy Bas-Rhin 9th vice president Philippe Mangin LR–UDI–MoDem Bioeconomy, agribusiness and bioenergy Meuse 10th vice president Nicole Muller-Becker LR–UDI–MoDem Cross-border cooperation and development of multilingualism Moselle 11th vice president Jean-Paul Omeyer LR–UDI–MoDem Sport Haut-Rhin 12th vice president Pascale Gaillot LR–UDI–MoDem Agriculture and rurality Ardennes 13th vice president Franck Leroy LR–UDI–MoDem Territorial cohesion, contractualization and balance of territories Marne 14th vice president Christèle Willer LR–UDI–MoDem Ecological and energy transition Haut-Rhin 15th vice president François Werner LR–UDI–MoDem Coordination of European policy, higher education and research Meurthe-et-Moselle

Committees The regional council includes 14 thematic committees which submit deliberations related to various policy areas.

Committee President Group Department Finance Jean-Pierre Liouville PS Moselle International and cross-border relations Claudine Ganter LR–UDI–MoDem Haut-Rhin Transport and travel Evelyne Isinger LR–UDI–MoDem Bas-Rhin Vocational training Véronique Marchet LR–UDI–MoDem Marne Lycées and apprenticeship Atissar Hibour LR–UDI–MoDem Meuse Youth Cédric Chevalier LR–UDI–MoDem Marne Economic development Isabelle Héliot-Couronne LR–UDI–MoDem Aube Innovation, higher education and research Rémy Sadocco LR–UDI–MoDem Moselle Agriculture and forestry Patrick Bastian LR–UDI–MoDem Bas-Rhin Spatial planning Martine Lizola LR–UDI–MoDem Marne Environment Christian Guirlinger LR–UDI–MoDem Meurthe-et-Moselle Culture Pascal Mangin LR–UDI–MoDem Bas-Rhin Sport Thierry Hory LR–UDI–MoDem Moselle Tourism Jackie Helfgott LR–UDI–MoDem Moselle

References

External links Official website of the Grand Est region