Besides his term as the Secretary of State for Industry from 1997 to 2002, Mr. Christian Pierret has been the Mayor of Saint-Die des Vosges since 1989 and an elected national Representative (Socialist Party) from 1978 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002. He was vice president of the large hotel group ACCOR between 1993 and 1996. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in 1977 and holds master's and doctoral degrees from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He recently authored a book titled Ministre a gauche: le magique et le reel (Paris: Le Pre aux Clercs, 2002).