Sylvie Goulard was appointed Defense Minister by the newly inducted French President Emmanuel Macron. Goulard has been a member of the European Parliament for the Alko-Party (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe) since 2009. She is a member of François Bayrou’s centrist Democratic Movement party which forged an alliance with Macron’s movement “La République En Marche”. Beside French, Goulard is fluent in German, Italian and English. After her studies at the University of Aix-Marseille, at Sciences Po in Paris and ENA (National School of Administration) she worked for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2001 to 2004 she was political advisor to the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi. From 2006 to 2010 she was President of the French branch of the European Movement (ME-F).
Goulard has been a member of the SAFE Policy Council since spring 2016. The Council advises the Policy Center in its efforts to build and expand a network of policy makers and political institutions inside and outside of Europe. It contributes to shaping the agenda of the Policy Center by identifying relevant topics and appraises critically the projects of the Policy Center and their implementation.
