Born on 28 June 1971 in Leuven, he grew up in Charleroi and studied political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (1989–1994) and at Cambridge University (1994–1995).
In the Di Rupo Government, which took office on 6 December 2011, Magnette was Minister for Public Enterprises, Scientific Policy and Development Cooperation until 17 January 2013.
[citation needed] His parents met in Leuven when they were students and then moved to Charleroi, to the multi-cultural working class district of Marchienne-au-Pont.
During the academic year 2000–2001, he became lecturer in political science at ULB - the Free University of Brussels and visiting professor at the IEP in Bordeaux.
Paul Magnette is the author and co-author of some 30 books and more than one hundred scientific chapters and articles, notably in collaboration with Olivier Costa,[10] Renaud Dehousse, Justine Lacroix and Kalypso Nicolaïdis.
After the legislative elections of 10 June 2007, Elio Di Rupo, who was then President of the Walloon Socialist Party, asked Paul Magnette to take on a mediation role in the town of Charleroi, where several members of the college of aldermen had been charged.
Contested by the nuclear power producers, this contribution was validated, after three years of legal disputes, by the Constitutional Court, with the Ministry of Energy winning the case.
To this end, he initiated collaboration among nine European countries aimed at creating the largest offshore wind turbine park in the world.
In particular, in this role, he obtained limits on salaries of senior executives of state-owned companies, thereby restoring an ethical code at the heart of the economy.
Inspired by the successful experiments run by the socialist mayors of Antwerp and Ghent, he created the post of ‘Charleroi Bouwmeester [fr] (municipal master builder),[21] a first for Wallonia.
Georgios Maïllis was appointed to this position in 2013 and was reappointed for a second term in 2018 in order to lead a series of architectural and urban sites as well as cultural and graphic arts projects.
A vast restructuration project in the north-west sector of the town centre, called Charleroi's Creative District, was launched in June 2014 with support from the European Regional Development Fund.
[25] Paul Magnette obtained permission for this project following a prolonged struggle with the American multinational company, with the restitution of the site being free of cost in order to allow it to be restructured.
Within the scope of the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, in June 2020, the municipality decided that every inhabitant would receive the equivalent in local currency, the Carol’Or, of 20 euro.
[30] His tenure ended in December 2024 following the election, in which he chose to run but declined to assume the mayoral position, instead allowing Thomas Dermine to take the role.
He chose to abandon his position as a Walloon deputy in order to continue his role as mayor of Charleroi, thereby respecting his pledge with regard to not holding a dual mandate.
[37] After Belgium had had no Federal Government for 164 days, King Philippe entrusted Paul Magnette with the task of gathering information in order to establish a majority coalition.
[38] Submitting his final report to the sovereign during an audience at the royal palace on 9 December, he requested that he be released from his mission, considering that he had done the groundwork for convergence and solutions.
[39] On 20 July 2020, Paul Magnette was entrusted – together with the President of the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA), Bart De Wever – by King Philippe "to take necessary initiatives leading to the establishment of a government based on a broad parliamentary majority".