As Secretary of State for Finance (1959–62) and Finance Minister (1962–66) under President de Gaulle, he was responsible for the policies which formed the basis of France’s economic growth. Dismissed following mounting opposition to his policies, he regained the finance portfolio under President Pompidou, whose death in 1974 paved the way for Giscard d’Estaing’s own election to the presidency. However, French economic conditions worsened during his term of office and he was defeated by François Mitterrand. He was a member of the European Parliament (1989–93), and was leader of the centre-right Union pour la Démocratie Française (1988–96). In 2002–03 he chaired a convention that produced a draft EU constitution which became the basis of the Lisbon Treaty.