Michel Daerden is a francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 politician, a member of the Parti Socialiste

Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)

The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party...

, and a Finance auditor. Popular for his reputation as a 'bon vivant', his undenied penchant for a drink (especially Pomerol) has led him to be lovingly nicknamed "the Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

 of Belgian Politics" both by himself in a famous TV interview and by Belgium's much respected weekly news magazine Le Vif/L'Express.

Family

Michel Daerden has two daughters. Aurore Daerden is a DJ

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 and a stylist: Elena Daerden is a student. His son, Frédéric Daerden, is the mayor of Herstal

Herstal

Herstal, formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which counts about 600,000 inhabitants...

 and an MEP

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

.

Miscellaneous

Expressing a certain sense of spectacle in his political activities, Daerden said he wanted to be a singer.

On 6 December 2006, Daerden laid the first stone of the renovated Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its...

.

Star on Youtube

Michel Daerden was the subject of special attention after the Belgian municipal elections of 2006. Excerpts of his post-election interview on RTBF

RTBF

Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium...

 and on local television RTC-TV Liège, where he appears intoxicated, were circulated widely on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. A week later, Daerden was asked on the TV show Mise au Point whether he had had too much to drink at that time. His humorous response was "Pas plus que d'habitude" ("No more than usual").

Cyborgjeff created a dance-video called Daerden machine, putting together several clips, including Daerden's quote about himself tout le monde aime papa ("everyone loves 'Daddy'", referring to himself).

Current political mandates

Federal Minister for Pensions and Big Cities.
Socialist Party member

local authorities (since 1982)

federal (1985)

general (since 1987)

Past political mandates

Vice-President of the Walloon Government

in charge of Budget, Finance and Equipment

Vice-President of the Government of the French Community

Government of the French Community

The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the executive branch of the French Community of Belgium, and it sits in Brussels. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the Parliament of the French Community and is headed by a Minister-President....

in charge of Budget, Finance (since July 2004)

Public Service and Sports (2007-2009)

Deputy of the district of Liège
Federal Minister for Science Policy and Infrastructures
Federal Minister of Transport
Regional Minister for Employment, Training and Housing
Vice-President of the Walloon Government

in charge of Finance, Budget, Housing, Infrastructure and Public Works

Minister of Budget of the French Community
Mayor of Ans

Ans

Ans is a small Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Ans had a total population of 27,322. The total area is 23.35 km² which gives a population density of 1,170 inhabitants per km²...

, on the outskirts of Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

 (1993-2011).

In March 2011 a majority of members of the town council, including members of his own party, voted to depose Daerden as mayor. The Liège division of the PS later supported this and forced Daerden to relinquish the office.

Diplomas

• Master Degree in trade and finance, Hautes Études Commerciales de Liège, 1971, with distinction.
• Aggregation of secondary education for commercial sciences, HEC Management School – University of Liege, 1973, with great distinction.
• Science Degree in Applied Economics (orientation: business administration, option business administration), University of Mons
  University of Mons
  The University of Mons is a new Belgian university located in the city of Mons, created by merging the Engineering Faculty of Mons and the University of Mons-Hainaut...
  
  , 1975.
• Master Degree as Auditor, University of Mons-Hainaut
  University of Mons-Hainaut
  The University of Mons-Hainaut , in Mons, Wallonia, Belgium, was a university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language was French....
  
  , 1977, with great distinction.