Questions loom over EU commissioner’s romantic relationship with French presidential hopeful

PARIS — France’s former Prime Minister and presidential hopeful Gabriel Attal said he had rekindled his relationship with EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné, raising ethical questions ahead of next year’s election.

Speaking in an interview on French TF1 television Sunday, Attal said it was “love at first sight” between him and Séjourné, but an affection that started “young” and was fraught with “trials and separations.”

The pair were in a civil partnership from 2017 to 2022, while Attal held several ministerial positions — including government spokesperson — and Séjourné was advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron before becoming an MEP. They then broke up for two years.

Asked whether the pair got back together after Macron called a snap election in 2024, Attal said: “Yes, we never really lost track of one another … we carried on talking as if we didn’t want the break-up to be total and become a reality. I feel extremely lucky,” he added.

But the renewal of their romantic relationship could turn into a potential conflict of interest, given Attal’s national ambitions in France. The former PM, who is a lawmaker and leader of Macron’s Renaissance Party, made no secret of his intention to run in the next presidential election.

Attal is kicking off a tour of France and will hold a campaign rally in Paris at the end of May. In an interview with the weekly Le Point, he said he knows “how to preside [over] France” and is working on proposals on health, constitutional reform and labor relations.

As a European commissioner, Séjourné swore an oath upon taking office to prioritize the bloc’s interests and be independent of national matters. His term runs beyond 2027 and will have to work with France’s next president, who might be one of Attal’s political rivals in the upcoming electoral campaign.

But if Attal won the French presidential election, the European Commission would be entering uncharted territory. There are no rules regulating personal relations between commissioners and heads of state, let alone precedents.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has the legal power to remove commissioners, though she has never done so — even though Thierry Breton accused her of pressuring him to go before finally resigning in 2024.

Séjourné’s press team declined POLITICO’s request to comment.

Attal is entering a crowded field of candidates on the center right: from former PM Edouard Philippe and conservative leader Bruno Retailleau, to former minister Gérald Darmanin and many others.

The former PM is expected to address his relationship with Séjourné in his upcoming book “As a Free Man,” to be released on Thursday. In his Sunday interview with Le Point, Attal said he “didn’t want to put his relationship on parade but didn’t want to hide who [he] is either.”

This is not the first time that the relationship between Attal and Séjourné has been a subject of scrutiny.

In 2024, Séjourné was appointed foreign affairs minister in a government headed by Attal, which prompted their aides to clarify that they were no longer dating at the time.

In recent interviews, Attal has also given more detail about his tempestuous relationship with his former mentor Macron, and how he felt the president’s decision to hold a snap election to relaunch his presidency in 2024 was “suicidal”.