Mathieu Carbasse
Published at 8:15 a.m. Updated at 8:17 p.m.
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After 51 days of uncertainty at the top of the state, Emmanuel Macron finally has his new prime minister. On Thursday, the French president appointed Michel Barnier as head of government, an experienced politician accustomed to difficult negotiations and the art of compromise. It is a return to the forefront for this former minister from the Republican right who will have to deal with a National Assembly more polarized than ever.
The oldest prime minister of the Fifth Republic
When Gabriel Attal was appointed prime minister by Emmanuel Macron in January 2024, he was, at 34, the youngest prime minister in the history of the Fifth Republic.
Nine months later, a change of register. By moving into the Hôtel Matignon at the age of 73, Michel Barnier became the oldest prime minister of the regime in force in France since 1958.
The age difference between the two is such that when Gabriel Attal was born in 1989, Michel Barnier had already been a member of parliament for over 10 years!
Elected for the first time in his native Savoie in 1973, Michel Barnier entered the National Assembly in 1978 and now has over 50 years of experience in politics.
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50 years of career in politics
By appointing Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron has therefore bet on an experienced politician.
A minister four times between 1993 and 2009 in right-wing governments, Michel Barnier has known three different presidents (François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy) and inherited various portfolios, namely those of European Affairs, the Environment, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs.
After a busy national political career, Michel Barnier continued his career in Brussels, notably with the European Commission. Elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2009, he has twice held the position of European Commissioner (a sort of minister in the European Union).
His greatest achievement remains his role as chief Brexit negotiator between 2016 and 2019, three years during which he prepared and led negotiations on the conditions for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
A recognized negotiator
His past as a Brexit negotiator will be very useful to him in the coming weeks. The new head of government will indeed have the difficult task of dealing with three large groups of deputies in the National Assembly: the New Popular Front, the presidential camp and the National Rally.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Coming from the right-wing party Les Républicains, he will have to use all his negotiating skills to lead a clearly minority government, at the mercy of motions of censure from the left and the far right.
“Of all the names that have been mentioned for the post of prime minister, Michel Barnier is the one that we can imagine will not be overthrown during the first vote in the National Assembly,” explains Frédéric Mérand, director of the Department of Political Science at the University of Montreal.
That is why Emmanuel Macron has made him his ideal candidate, even if the National Rally is positioning itself more than ever as the true arbiter of the future government's actions.
Of all the names that have been mentioned for the post of prime minister, Michel Barnier is the one that we can imagine will not be overthrown during the first vote in the National Assembly
— Frédéric Mérand
Pro-European
Coming from the Gaullist family, member in turn of the Union of Democrats for the Republic, the Rally for the Republic, the Union for a Popular Movement and the Republicans since 2015, Michel Barnier is a pro-European who has the sovereignty of France at heart.
“He has a vision that is not very far from that of the extreme right concerning the Europe of Nations. He is in favour of greater autonomy for the Member States and is seen as a defender of French interests in Brussels, a subject on which the French are of the same opinion, from the left to the right,” continues Mr Mérand.
According to the political scientist, however, we should not expect radical measures from Brussels.
A right-wing prime minister
If the National Rally has already announced that it will not participate in the next government, Marine Le Pen's party will have power over Michel Barnier's program, since it is now able to bring down his government at any time. The latter therefore risks giving a shift to the right compared to the governments that preceded it, believes Frédéric Mérand.
“He must give assurances to the entire right, on subjects that will achieve consensus from the center to the far right,” he summarizes.
Far from being an ideologue, Michel Barnier is a pragmatist attached to the welfare state dear to the Gaullists. Even if he does not defend a neoliberal vision of the economy, he has long cultivated themes dear to the right: strengthening immigration control, increasing the weekly working time, restricting social benefits, etc. Michel Barnier has also already positioned himself in favor of raising the retirement age to 65.
As a reminder, reviled by the left and the unions, the pension reform pushes back the legal retirement age to 64. This reform should not, unless there is a huge surprise, be repealed by the future Barnier government.
With Agence France-Presse