Macron Names Michel Barnier as New French Prime Minister

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier addresses the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 18, 2020. Olivier Hoslet/Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has named the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s next prime minister.

Barnier’s new role was announced on Sept. 5 after a caretaker government was in place for more than 50 days.

The 73-year-old led the EU’s talks with Britain from 2016 to 2021 over its exit from the bloc.

Before that, the conservative politician held roles in various French governments and also served as the EU’s commissioner.

Barnier’s appointment follows weeks of intense efforts by Macron and his aides to find a candidate who could form a new government, two months after a snap election defeat.

The leader of the right-wing populist National Rally Party and Macron’s two-time presidential rival, Marine Le Pen, said on social media platform X that Barnier “seems to meet at least the first criterion” that had been requested.

“That is to say, someone who is respectful of the different political forces and capable of addressing the National Rally, which is the first group in the National Assembly,” she said.

However, Le Pen wrote that she would “not participate in a government of any kind whatsoever of Mr Barnier’s.”

“For the rest, that is to say on the fundamental issues, we are waiting to see what Mr Barnier’s general policy speech is and the way in which he leads the compromises that will be necessary on the budget,” she wrote.

National Rally’s president, Jordan Bardella, said that “after an interminable wait, unworthy of a great democracy” his party acknowledged Barnier’s appointment.

“We will judge his general policy speech, his budgetary decisions and his actions on the evidence,“ he said. ”We will plead for the major emergencies of the French, the cost of living, security, immigration, to finally be addressed, and we reserve all political means of action if this is not the case in the coming weeks.”

‘Democratic Coup’

The left-wing New Popular Front alliance (NFP) had nominated civil servant Lucie Castets for prime minister.

“The President has just decided to officially deny the result of the legislative elections that he himself had called,” NFP leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said. “It is not the New Popular Front, which came out on top in the election, that will have the prime minister. ... The election was therefore stolen from the French people. The message was denied.”

Left-wing lawmaker Mathilde Panot, who, like Melenchon, is part of La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), which includes the Communist Party, the Greens, and the Socialist Party, called for its supporters to join them “on the streets” on Sept. 7 to protest against an “unacceptable democratic coup in a democracy.”

Last month, Macron said he would not agree to a government led by the left-wing NFP, further extending the ongoing multi-party stalemate that prevented the nation from forming a government since a snap election in June.

He said at the time that France needed institutional stability and that a government led by the NFP would immediately face a no-confidence vote from all other parties.

“The Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communists have not yet proposed ways to cooperate with other political forces. It is now up to them to do so,” Macron said.

He said he would start new consultations with party leaders on Sept. 3, and he urged the left to cooperate with other political forces.

Macron called a snap election on June 9 that delivered a hung parliament, creating political uncertainty. He has been holding talks on a new government since the election and said he would continue to do so.

No group emerged from the snap election with a clear majority, with the vote evenly split among the NFP, Macron’s centrist political party En Marche, and the right-wing National Rally.

Reuters contributed to this report.