Nicole Fontaine was a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament for the Île-de-France from 1984 until 2002 and from 2004 until 2009. She was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, part of the European People's Party. Fontaine was the President of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2001, and was then replaced by Pat Cox, from the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party, in accordance with an agreement between the two groups at the start of the term.

The Union for a Popular Movement was a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was one of the two major parties in French politics along with the Socialist Party (PS). The UMP was formed in 2002 as a merger of several centre-right parties under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac. In May 2015, the party was succeeded by The Republicans.