On 17 January 2018, Sylvie Goulard was named second deputy governor of the Bank of France. She will take over the responsibilities of Anne Le Lorier. Goulard was a member of European Parliament for the ALDE-Party (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe) from 2009 until she became defence minister under French President Emmanuel Macron. She stepped down a few weeks later, citing an investigation into her centrist MoDem Party’s affairs in the European Parliament. Sylvie Goulard is a member of François Bayrou’s centrist Democratic Movement party which forged an alliance with Macron’s movement “La République En Marche”.
After her studies at the University of Aix-Marseille, at Sciences Po in Paris and ENA (National School of Administration) Goulard 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.