His Excellency Mr Jean-Paul Proust, the Minister of State of the Principality from 1st June 2005 to 26th March 2010, died in the night of 7th to 8th April 2010 following a long illness.
The announcement of his death has created great sorrow among the Government of Monaco, the Civil Service, the Monegasque population and residents.
For almost five years at the head of the Government of Monaco, he was in charge of the actions undertaken by the Principality, under the authority of H.S.H. Prince Albert II.
The ambitious policies he conducted have resulted in significant progress being made in every sector, both nationally and internationally.
In the Principality, he conducted a policy to strengthen economic development in order to guarantee Monaco’s long-term prosperity. He also carried out a policy to improve the quality of life for the population with regard to housing, health, environment, cultural activities and sports.
The social policy in favour of state housing resulted in the delivery of 332 apartments in 2007 and 223 in 2008. In 2009, the “Habitation-Capitalisation” scheme was introduced enabling Monegasques to pass on capital to their spouse or children.
Projects in the field of health led to the implementation of a comprehensive scheme to provide care and aid to the elderly, the opening of “A Qietüdine”, the first retirement home in the Principality, the launch of the clinical gerontological centre and the new hospital.
For the environment, he established an incentive policy for the use of public transport, set up selective waste sorting and applied the H.Q.E. approach to all construction sites.
As far as cultural affairs are concerned, the project for the New National Museum of Monaco was launched in 2008.
Within the Civil Service, the modernisation process was initiated in 2006 with the aim of improving reception facilities and the running of departments, the quality of service provided to the public, as well as the simplification of procedures, the adoption of a development plan for Human Resources and the development of training.
On a global level, activities carried out gave greater recognition, credibility and visibility to Monaco on the international scene with the implementation of an ambitious foreign policy (development of the diplomatic network, signing of agreements and compliance with the regulations of international institutions).
In 2005, the Paris Agreements were signed modernising the relations between France and the Principality. The Principality was granted increased sovereignty and the two countries are now linked by a common destiny.
In 2009, the Principality’s efforts were rewarded with its removal from the OECD’s “grey list” and the closing of the Council of Europe’s follow-up procedure.
On these two issues, he declared:
« … The Principality’s image has above all been reinforced over the past few months with its removal from the OECD’s « grey » list. The Principality has shown its responsiveness by signing the twelve tax information exchange agreements in order to be included on the white list and consequently to bring its tax policy into compliance with OECD criteria. It has therefore proved its determination not to stay on the sidelines of the international cooperation movement to combat tax evasion” – 20th November 2009
“At the same time, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has decided to close the follow-up procedure pertaining to Monaco’s compliance with obligations and commitments towards the Council of Europe”. – 20th November 2009
On 14th October 2009, the Principality was elected onto UNESCO’s Executive Board, with 160 votes out of 178. Monaco received the most votes from all the candidates standing for this election.
Mr Proust stated:
“I would like to add how satisfied I am to see the Principality elected to UNESCO’s Executive Board”. – 20th November 2009
The Monegasque Cooperation has been provided with additional resources to bring its international assignments to a successful end.
On this issue, he stated:
“… the efforts of the International Cooperation continue to increase by approximately 25%, just as the Sovereign Prince promised”. – 20th November 2009
Mr Jean-Paul Proust’s funeral will take place on Monday 12th April 2010 at 3 p.m. in Marseille Cathedral.
MR JEAN-PAUL PROUST
Appointed as Minister of State by H.S.H. Prince Albert II by Sovereign Order on 13th May 2005, after the agreement of the President of the French Republic, Mr Jacques Chirac, Mr Jean-Paul Proust took up his position on 1st June 2005. He succeeded Patrick Leclercq who left one month later than scheduled following the death of Prince Rainier III.
Born on 3rd March 1940 in Vaas in the Sarthe, Mr Jean-Paul Proust, holding a degree in law, graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris and joined the ENA (1966 “Montesquieu” class). He was directly appointed to the Ministry of the Interior as Civil Administrator before holding several positions in the prefectural administration: Sub-prefect, Director of the Prefect’s cabinet in Val d’Oise from 1967 to 1972. He then became Assistant to the Director of Local Authorities at the Ministry of the Interior from 1972 to 1974, then Secretary General of Réunion from 1974 to 1975. He later held the position of Director of the cabinet of the Director General of the Civil Service within the Ministry of the Interior.
In 1977, he was appointed Sub-Prefect of Lorient, a position he held until 1981. Director of Fisheries within the Ministry of the Sea from 1982 to 1985, he was entrusted with being in charge of Mediterranean integrated programmes for the Minister of Territorial Planning from 1985 to 1986. He then returned to the Ministry of the Interior as Director of Defence and Civil Safety, a position he held until 1987.
He was subsequently entrusted with various positions as Prefect: the department of the Isère (1987-1989), the Guadeloupe region (1989-1991), the Limousin region, Haute-Vienne (1991-1992), the Haute-Normandie region, Seine-Maritime (1992-1997), the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Bouches du Rhône (1997-1999).
In 1999, he was appointed Director of Mr Jean-Pierre Chevènement’s Cabinet, Minister of the Interior, then in 2001 Prefect of Police in Paris, a post he held under the successive authority of Messrs Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique de Villepin, Minister of the Interior. He was later appointed “Extraordinary State Councillor” (November 2004).
Mr Jean-Paul Proust was a Commander of the Legion of Honour and was elevated to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Charles by H.S.H. Prince Albert II.
