In the courtyard of the Hôtel de Matignon, the official residence of the French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal – after more than 50 days in office – will finally hand over the baton this Thursday to his successor, Michel Barnier. In the culmination of a long career in France and Europe, Emmanuel Macron has tasked this conservative politician with “forming a unity government in the service of the country.”
A difficult task for the former chief negotiator of the European Union for Brexit, who will have to govern with a National Assembly more fragmented than ever, divided into three large blocs (left, centre and far right), within which his political party (Les Républicains) has less than 50 deputies (out of a total of 577).
Michel Barnier (1951, La Tronche) entered politics as a teenager, was a member of parliament for the first time in 1978 and has been part of the Gaullist right under its various denominations (UDR, RPR, UMP and, currently, Les Républicains) for almost a year. 50 years old. At 73, he became this Thursday the oldest French Prime Minister at the time of his appointment; more than double that of his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, the youngest to hold this post.
Despite his experience, his career has made him less well known in France than in Europe, although he was a minister four times under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy (Environment in 1993, European Affairs in 1995 and 2004 and Agriculture in 2007).
He also served twice as European Commissioner, before being appointed by Jean-Claude Juncker as chief Brexit negotiator in 2016, a role for which he was unanimously applauded by member states. However, despite his long career, Barnier often jokes that his greatest achievement was organising the Winter Olympics in Albertville (Savoie) in 1992.
Failed presidential candidate
Back in France after the Brexit deal, he unsuccessfully tried to be elected as the Republican candidate for the 2022 presidential election. He came third in the primaries, behind Valérie Pécresse and Éric Ciotti. This Thursday, the French press highlighted the prestige he enjoys in Brussels, as a man of experience, rigor and dialogue, while at home, Barnier has been criticized by his rivals – often from his own party – for his rigidity and excessive seriousness.
His closeness to Emmanuel Macron, with whom he shares many elements of economic and international policy, also earned him criticism. In 2021, The World He revealed that the Elysée had contacted him a year earlier to replace Édouard Philippe as Prime Minister. However, Macron set the condition that Barnier leave his party. His refusal then blocked his arrival at Matignon.
Since then, their position towards the head of state has hardened and, although they agree ideologically on several points, Barnier has often criticized the president’s way of governing. “We cannot lead France without counting on everyone,” he declared during the 2022 primaries, denouncing a “vertical, arrogant and solitary” presidency.
In the short term, Barnier must form a government that allows him to build bridges with the other parties. Under Macron’s tutelage: in France, the Executive is appointed by the President on the proposal of the Prime Minister. “The President has ensured that the Prime Minister and the next government meet the necessary conditions to be as stable as possible and to obtain the broadest support,” the Elysée said in its official statement.
Position on immigration
It will be more complicated to get Barnier and his next government to resist a predictable motion of censure in the National Assembly in the coming weeks. In theory, this was the central element of Macron’s nomination, which is why he refused to entrust the formation of the government to the candidate of the New Popular Front, Lucie Castets.
In the event of a motion, an abstention by deputies from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party could be decisive. This is why the NFP criticized Macron’s decision to appoint Barnier in a statement published Thursday, accusing him of “forging a tacit agreement with the extreme right” by opting for a right-wing prime minister.
Although he has a long history as a moderate and pro-European conservative, his party’s primary program surprised by including a “moratorium” on immigration. Barnier demanded to “regain legal sovereignty so as not to be subject to the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights.”
These proposals were aimed at appealing to Republican members, who are generally more conservative than the party’s voters. They caused incomprehension in Brussels at the time, where several members of the committee and parliamentarians accused them of cynicism and demagogy.
These proposals could now open the way to negotiations with Le Pen to obtain at least her abstention. For now, the president of the far-right party, Jordan Bardella, said that “they will wait for the general policy speech that the Prime Minister will have to give before making a decision in this regard.”
