Manon Aubry

Not to be confused withMartine Aubry.

Manon Aubry MEP
Leader ofThe Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 July 2019 Serving withMartin Schirdewan
Preceded by	Gabriele Zimmer
Memberof theEuropean Parliament forFrance
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2019
Personal details
Born	(1989-12-22)22 December 1989 Fréjus,France
Political party	French: La France Insoumise(2018–present) European Union: The Left in the European Parliament
Education	Sciences Po University of Sydney Columbia University

Manon Aubry(French pronunciation:[manɔ̃obʁi];born 22 December 1989) is a French politician who represents theleft-wingpartyLa France Insoumise(LFI). A former advocacy officer forOxfamFrance, she won a seat in the2019 European Parliament electionand the same year was elected co-chair withMartin SchirdewanofThe Left in the European Parliament(GUE/NGL) group. She retained her seat following the2024 European Parliament election.

Biography

Aubry was born inFréjusin thedépartementofVar.She is the daughter of journalists Bruno Aubry and Catherine Poggi-Aubry and hasCorsicanorigins.She first became involved with political activism while studying at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry (sixth form college) inSaint-Raphaëlin 2005, campaigning for the "no" vote in the referendum on theEuropean Constitutional Treaty,and against theFrançois Filloneducational reforms. In 2006, she organised aschool protestagainst theFirst Employment Contract(contrat première embauche), a proposed law which would have made it easier for employers to dimiss young workers.She has credited her maternal grandfather, Modeste Poggi, who was a left-wing activist in Bonifacio, with inspiring her politics.

Aubry continued her studies atSciences PoinParis,where she was president of the local branch of theNational Union of Students of France.After obtaining a degree ininternational relationsandhuman rights,she spent a year at theSchool of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University,inNew York.She then did humanitarian work in Africa for three years, withMédecins du MondeinLiberiaand with theCarter Centerin theDemocratic Republic of Congo.

Returning to Paris, Aubry worked as a senior advocacy officer for Oxfam France from 2014 to 2018. Her particular area of interest was tax justice and inequality. She described how she tracked downmultinationalswho did not pay their fair share of taxes and rewarded their shareholders rather than the workers who produced the wealth. She also collaborated on a report about banks andtax havens.During this period, she lectured at Sciences Po on human rights.

Political career

Although Aubry had no background in party politics, she was approached byJean-Luc Mélenchon,leader of the left-wing partyLa France Insoumise,to head the party's list of candidates in2019 European Parliament election.In May 2019 she was elected to the European Parliament and in July 2019 she became the co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) group together with German MEP Martin Schirdewan.She is also co-chair of theIntergroup on the Social Economy.

Within months of election as an MEP, Aubry embarked on the first stage of a bike tour of France with the object of meeting citizens and hearing their views.In November 2019, Aubry received a reprimand from thePresident of the European Parliamentfor having published on herYouTubeandTwitteraccounts a video inviting members ofExtinction Rebellionto occupy the European Parliament.

To markInternational Day for the Elimination of Violence against Womenin November 2020, Aubry read out in the European Parliament the names of the 86 women killed by partners or ex-partners in France that year.

In April 2023 Aubry and MEPs of the Left tabled a motion for a debate about the actions of the police during demonstrations againstMacron's pension reforms.The motion was blocked by other groups. Interviewed byVarsity,she said that state repression against pension protests had taken France from a country in "social crisis to a country in a crisis of democracy".

In January 2024, she was named head of the La France Insoumise list of candidates for the 2024 European elections.

During theNinth European Parliament(2019-2024) Aubry has a seat on the following committees: Legal Affairs; Economic and Monetary Affairs; Tax Matters (subcommittee). She was a member of the Conference of Presidents and the Delegation to the Cariform-EU Parliamentary Committee.As rapporteur, she has drafted reports on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum level of training of seafarers (codification) and on waivers of parliamentary immunity ofMarc Tarabella,Andrea Cozzolino,Fulvio MartuscielloandNuno Melo.

Since becoming an MEP, Aubry has campaigned for the creation of an independent ethics body to enforce standards across EU institutions.

Personal life

Aubry playswater polo,having practiced swimming competitively when she was at school.