“Europe is 450 million human beings who live in peace”: interview with Aurélien Colson, new boss of Modem in Gard

Aurélien Colson. Sa spécialité, la négociation. DR – DR

Elected in Redessan, teaching at Essec, Aurélien Colson is also a convinced European. Who intends to not give up in the campaign for Europeans within the presidential majority.

Modem has just held its congress in Blois. You succeed Barbara De Vos at the head of the centrist party, in Gard. It was in your plans?

Not necessarily. I was asked to do it, I thought about it. As I felt capable of building a solid team around me, I said yes. 

Yet you were not, until then, included.

As a matter of principle, I didn't have a card. I was elected to Redessan in 2014 and re-elected in 2020 on an apolitical list. But during the last legislative elections, the deputy Philippe Berta, for whom I am the deputy, told me that if the values ​​of Modem suited me, it would be good for me to take my card. As a humanist and European, it suited me. 

When you were very young, you worked in the office of Lionel Jospin, then prime minister, in 2017…

It was absolutely not premeditated. One of my teachers at Sciences-Po was a special advisor to Lionel Jospin. He offered me a job at the office. I stayed there for five years, until 2002. I worked on the Prime Minister's speeches, in an incredible team. I was able to meet Elisabeth Borne, Manuel Valls, Florence Parly… It was a fantastic school and the creation of a lot of contacts.

You participated in the writing of Lionel Jospin's famous speech after the 2002 defeat ?

No. The best speeches, he wrote them himself…

Today, you are present both in Gard and in Paris, in Essec. What do you teach there ?

I am a professor of political science with a specialty in negotiations (1). This is about all the processes that will allow people to come to an agreement.

And in the Gard, you are deputy to the town planning of your commune, Redessan…

This is an important delegation which touches people's lives and which leads to seeing up close the contradictory issues of the administration: how to preserve agricultural land, fight against #39;waterproofing of soils while fighting against poor housing ? 

How do you see your role at the head of Modem ?

I'm going to lead a team. We are going to meet people, listen to them and understand them to raise their expectations. And we must also explain and promote the action carried out by MP Philippe Berta.

The Modem belongs to the presidential majority. But it's not a big structure. How many Gard members do you have ?

Around forty registered members, plus sympathizers. But the Modem matters. It corresponds to a centrist sensibility. And the only deputy in the presidential majority in Gard is a Modem: Philippe Berta. This makes him an absolutely central interlocutor. Many mayors in the district are turning to him. It's a discreet, but effective relay.

What are your relationships with the other representatives of the presidential majority: Valérie Rouverand, Jérôme Talon, Philippe Ribot, Yvan Lachaud… ?< /p>

They are very good. We will work together for the European campaign. 

An important campaign ?

Yes, Europe is not exempt from reproach. But we must remember its importance. Agriculture is suffering, but fortunately France benefits from the 9.5 billion euros of the CAP. And then Europe remains 450 million human beings who live in peace, with a high level of economic prosperity, solidarity between generations and human rights. That doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.

(1) He wrote several works, translated into around fifteen languages.