Who knows Bruno Bernard? In the barometer of political figures, the president of the metropolis of Lyon remains an illustrious anonymous person. The elected environmentalist has, however, just launched a legal offensive which should make noise against the Arkema and Daikin groups, two chemical giants suspected of massive distribution of “eternal pollutants”. The summary summons, filed on March 19, aims to assess the damage suffered by the agglomeration of one million two hundred thousand inhabitants and to open the door to a multitude of potential appeals, if the procedure succeeds.
Almost no one knows that Bruno Bernard, 53, succeeded Gérard Collomb at the head of the second largest city in France. The regional leader of the Ecologists (ex-EELV) beat Emmanuel Macron’s former interior minister in the 2020 local elections, taking the helm of the only metropolis elected by direct universal suffrage.
Its notoriety is inversely proportional to the amount of 3.9 billion euros of budget it manages, which makes Greater Lyon the second most financially endowed community, after Greater Paris. Bruno Bernard is “the most powerful of elected environmentalists”, likes to remind those around him. Yes, but not the most famous. The mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, or that of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, receives a lot of media attention. He remains in the shadows.
Linen suit and hesitant verb
It must be said that Bruno Bernard puts his all into it. With his appearance as a tall teenager in a linen suit, without a tie, with his hesitant words which make him eat the ends of his sentences, this somewhat secretive bachelor is not the best customer on television sets or overheated forums. He writes his own speeches, refusing to let a collaborator hold the pen for him. Telegraphic, ultra-factual, no-nonsense interventions.
“For me, speaking in front of an audience is not at all natural, not at all obvious. My apprehension gradually faded. Today, I can speak in front of a thousand people without it impressing me,” confides Bruno Bernard from his large rectangular office, on the first floor of the cubic headquarters of the Lyon metropolis, in the Part-Dieu district.
His dry style undoubtedly owes to his training as an engineer, specialist in structural mechanics. Bruno Bernard worked in the depollution industry, creating his company, before entering politics late in life. Passionate about rafting, the ecologist walks 8 kilometers a day, ” to think “.
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