Denis Simonneau
Denis Simonneau
Denis Simonneau has been Chairman of EuropaNova — a French NGO specialized in European issues — since March 2015. Graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in Paris, he holds a Masters degree in Economics. As a member of the French Diplomatic Service, he served in India (1988-1989) and South Africa (1993-1996), was Adviser to the Minister of European Affairs, Michel Barnier (1996-1997), Counsellor at the French Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels from 1997 to 2001, and was appointed Consul General and Head of the French Trade Economic Mission, specialized in energy, in Houston, Texas (USA) from 2001 to 2005. Deputy spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs of the French Government from 2005 to 2007, and head of communications during the launch of UNITAID, the agency set up to purchase medical supplies for developing countries, he was then Chief of Staff of the Minister for European Affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, from July 2007 to December 2008, the period of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union. During that time, he also worked as Deputy chief of staff for Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign Affairs. In May 2009, he took up a position within the energy company, GDF SUEZ and was appointed Diplomatic Adviser to the Group’s Chairman and CEO, Gérard Mestrallet. In March 2010, he was nominated Senior Vice President for International Relations and in 2011, Member of the Executive Committee (COMEX) in charge of European and International Relations for the ENGIE Group (ex GDF SUEZ). Denis Simonneau has then worked at L’Oréal, from January 2018 to October 2021 as Senior Vice President in charge of Institutional Affairs for the Group. He has been a member of the Boards of the French section of the International Chamber of Commerce, PROPARCO, MEDEF International, Institut du Bosphore, Europartenaires, The French-American Foundation and Chairman of “Les Amis de l’Université Française d’Egypte”. He was nominated as Chair of the global ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-corruption since November 2015.
