Within the European institutions, the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on Thursday 5 September was greeted with great relief. The Savoyard, twice Commissioner (for regional policy from 1999 to 2004, then for the internal market and financial services from 2010 to 2014) and architect of the December 2020 agreement that has since governed post-Brexit relations between the European Union and the EU, knows the community machine like no other, where he has created an unrivalled network.
Michel Barnier, long disliked by his French political friends, has always been able to reassure himself in Brussels, where his very European qualities are appreciated, far from French arrogance. Moreover, at the lowest points of his career, he has always been able to count on Europe’s help. Thus, in February 2015, after having suffered a defeat in the race for the presidency of the Commission against Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker at the end of 2014, and having been denied the investiture of the UMP for the next regional elections in France, he was appointed defence adviser to the president of the European executive.
Not very charismatic, not very interested in the technicalities of the files, a bit laborious, the “mountain man”As he likes to portray himself, he has that sense of commitment, little appreciated by the Vmy The European Parliament is a key element when it comes to reaching an agreement at the age of twenty-seven, and then with the European Parliament. When negotiating, he does not neglect anyone. During the four-year post-Brexit talks between Brussels and London, he always treated small and large countries on an equal footing, and he tirelessly visited all the capitals. He reported on the progress of his work to heads of state, MEPs, national elected officials and even the social partners with the regularity of a metronome.
“It’s very German, or Benelux”
“Barnier is a very parliamentary democracy; from this point of view, he is very German or Benelux. This is not common for a Frenchman.He explained at the time to World Belgian MEP (Greens) Philippe Lamberts, who has since left the European Parliament. He understood that in Europe you should never crush your negotiating partner because tomorrow they could be your ally. This approach may not always inspire admiration – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen treated him with great disdain when he was “Mr Brexit” – but it has proven effective in Europe. “If he does with the National Assembly what he did with Brexit, he will succeed” comments a senior European official today.
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