Career in French politics When
Jacques Chirac became president in 1995, Arthuis returned to government under prime minister
Alain Juppé. Initially in charge of economic planning, he was later promoted to
finance minister, succeeding
Alain Madelin. Under a plan announced by Arthuis in 1996, the state-run bank
Caisse des dépôts et consignations bought more than two-thirds of the shares of nearly bankrupt property lender
Crédit Foncier de France and transfer its assets to another state-run entity, which was to liquidate them over 10 years; although Crédit Foncier was not state-owned, the government had to rescue it not only because of its large exposure to the bond market but also because many French people considered its shares to be among the most steady and risk-free. That same year, Arthuis called for an investigation of former top executives at the state-controlled bank
Credit Lyonnais for concealing losses at one of its key units, Altus Finance. In 2012, Arthuis authored a high-profile report on the future eurozone for
Prime Minister François Fillon.
Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019 Arthuis was a
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the
2014 elections until
2019. In this capacity, he served as the chairman of the
Committee on Budgets. In 2014, he was the Parliament’s lead negotiator on the 2015
budget of the European Union. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Long Term Investment and Reindustrialisation and of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights. In a 2015 letter to
Martin Schulz, the
President of the European Parliament, and
Jerzy Buzek, the head of the
Conference of Committee Chairs, Arthuis argued his committee should take a greater role in economic governance of the
eurozone. Arthuis publicly endorsed
Emmanuel Macron in the
2017 French presidential elections. ==Other activities==