France: Macron names ex-Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as PM

Timmy Mabs | 5th September, 2024.

Barnier, the former Brexit negotiator and now France's oldest premier, is tasked with forming 'a unifying government in the service of the country'.

Barnier was named French Prime Minister two months after political deadlock in the country [Getty/file photo]

French President Emmanuel Macron picked Michel Barnier, a former EU negotiator on Brexit, as the nation's next prime minister on Thursday, the presidency revealed.

This appointment put an end to almost two months of political impasse that had been caused by unexpected polling. "A unifying government in the service of the country" is Barnier's stated mandate. At 73 years old, Barnier is the oldest premier in French history.

Since Wednesday, French politicians and the media have speculated on the potential announcement of the next chief of state to succeed Gabriel Attal, given the hung parliament that resulted from the July elections. 

A left-wing coalition became the most powerful political force in France since there were not enough seats to form an outright majority. The far-right and Macron's centrist faction are the only two major parties still present in the National Assembly.

The early favourites were thought to be former Conservative minister Xavier Bertrand and socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve. 

However, all figures were contradicted by the French parliament's new mathematical structure.

In France, the prime minister is chosen by the president and is subject to parliamentary censure. 

Bertrand and Cazeneuve both run the prospect of being faced with a motion of no confidence that would be supported by the far right and the left bloc. 

Right-winger and former Brexit negotiator for the European Union, Barnier, was spotted leaving Macron's meetings at the Elysee to return to front-line politics as premier.

He has essentially vanished from French politics since his Republicans (LR) party lost the nomination to challenge Macron for president in 2022. 

An unnamed presidential advisor claims that the seasoned former foreign minister and EU commissioner is "Macron-compatible" and won't be ousted from office by parliament anytime soon. 

Unidentified but described as "extremely popular with right-wing members of parliament without being an irritant on the left" was a minister in the outgoing government.

Marine Le Decides. 

Macron appears to be counting on the far-right National Rally (RN) of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen not to block the appointment of Barnier.

The party's deputy leader Sebastien Chenu, speaking to BFM TV, appeared to indicate the RN would not automatically back a vote of no confidence against Barnier, as it would for Bertrand and Cazeneuve.ee

RN party leader Jordan Bardella said Barnier would be judged "on evidence" when he addresses parliament.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier countered: "We know in the end who decides. Her name is Marine Le Pen. She is the one to whom Macron has decided to submit."

Macron's decision comes under the gun of a deadline to submit a draft 2025 budget for France's strained government finances before October 1.

It also marks his attempt to acknowledge rejection of his seven-year rule without giving up on hard-fought reforms, chief among them last year's widely resented increase to the official retirement age to 64 from 62.

After the July election deprived Macron of his relative majority in parliament, the centrist president has drawn out the appointment of a new prime minister for a period unprecedented since World War II, through the July-August Olympic Games and beyond.

Atal became the first openly gay head of state in France this year, and he has held caretaker status throughout the unrest.

He expressed his hope that his successor will be able to "convert the try" of the measures whose execution he was unable to complete in a daily interview with Le Figaro. He spoke in a rugby-like tone.