Sabine Thillaye, French MP (MoDem) for Indre-et-Loire, is French and German and very passionate about the friendship between the two countries. Born and raised in Germany, she became French through her marriage and has since lived in France. Promoting the French-German partnership in the European Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, which she presides over, is essential in her eyes.

Elected president on the day of Simone Veil’s funeral, Sabine Thillaye felt a strong sense of responsibility. The committee’s role is to monitor, analyse and take a stand on European issues that are intersectional in nature. The 48 members of the committee also sit on standing committees of the National Assembly, which makes them the only French MPs to sit on two committees. Even though the 27 Member States of the European Union all have a European Affairs Committee, they don’t all have the same prerogatives. For example, Finland has a more extensive committee – the “grand committee” – on European Affairs mandating the Finnish Prime Minister on which positions he should defend at the European Council.

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