Immigration, pensions, deficit: the new French prime minister sets his priorities

Photo: Ludovic Marin Agence France-Presse On Friday on the TF1 channel, Michel Barnier gave his first televised interview since his appointment as French Prime Minister.

Gabriel Bourovitch – Agence France-Presse in Paris

Published at 4:18 p.m.

• Europe

In France, Michel Barnier, who promised “changes and ruptures” upon his appointment as prime minister, began consultations on Friday with his predecessor and the leaders of his right-wing party, who set out their conditions for participation in a government.

Michel Barnier set among his priorities “controlling migratory flows with concrete measures,” revaluing work and not increasing France’s debt, in his first interview on TF1 on Friday evening.

His appointment ended sixty days of suspense following the early legislative elections in July, which resulted in a National Assembly fragmented into three blocs: left, center right and far right.

This election had been called after the dissolution of the Assembly decided by President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of a defeat of its majority in the European elections at the beginning of June, where the extreme right came out on top.

Mr Barnier will have to use all his diplomatic skills to form a government that can end the most serious political crisis of the Fifth Republic — the political regime in force in France since 1958.

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“Respect” for far-right voters

On TF1, the head of government, appointed on Thursday, boasted of his “ability to negotiate”, he who was a European Commissioner, and assured that he “respected” the voters of the National Rally even if he had “nothing in common” with the far-right party.

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The former right-wing minister justified his appointment by his “ability to negotiate, to bring people together, to respect them, to listen to them”. “I have nothing in common or not much in common with the theses or ideologies of the National Rally,” but “I respect” the 11 million French people who voted for him, he added.

Asked about the abysmal public deficit, which is expected to widen further to 5.6% of GDP this year, the Prime Minister replied: “Faced with this emergency, I do not rule out greater fiscal justice.”

France's debt has reached 110% of GDP and the public deficit is estimated at 5.5% of GDP, when the EU Stability Pact limits it to 3% and debt to 60% of a member state's GDP.

He also said he was in favour of an “improvement” of the controversial pension reform without “calling everything into question”.

A supporter in 2021 of raising the legal retirement age to 65, Mr Barnier refused to say whether he would reverse the shift from 62 to 64 years included in the reform adopted by force in 2023.

Responsible for “forming a unifying government in the service of the country”, the experienced The 73-year-old former European Brexit negotiator already knows he is on borrowed time and will have to find the right balances to avoid the first motion of censure.

“Democratic betrayal”

Mr. Barnier also said on Friday evening that he was willing to open his government to “people on the left”.

But the new prime minister will not be able to count on the left. “No PS personality will be in his government, I have no doubt about that,” assured the leader of the socialists, Olivier Faure, confirming that the left would file a motion of censure and denouncing “a democratic betrayal” in relation to the result of the legislative elections where the left came out on top.

On the far right, the RN will also not go into government but will not vote for censure unless “the prime minister strays terribly from [his] expectations” on purchasing power, immigration, insecurity or the establishment of proportional representation, according to its vice-president, Sébastien Chenu.

A positioning that makes the left say that the RN is now the “kingmaker”.

That leaves the members of the former majority, who will be “many to help” the new prime minister, according to one of his predecessors, Edouard Philippe, who will meet him on Sunday, as will former prime minister Elisabeth Borne on Saturday.

Once the government is formed, the prime minister will then have to make a general policy statement to the Assembly. Mr. Barnier will be received on Saturday by its president, Yaël Braun-Pivet, to discuss it.