Macron Names Former Brexit Czar Barnier as France’s Premier
BloombergSEP 13 2024
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier of the conservative Les Républicains party on Thursday to replace Gabriel Attal as prime minister in an attempt to break the longest political deadlock in the history of the country's Fifth Republic.
Aged 73, Barnier is a veteran politician who served as French foreign minister, European commissioner in Brussels and EU Brexit negotiator during his half-century political career.
The oldest premier in the history of modern France will now have to form a government that can survive no-confidence votes in the three-way hung National Assembly. If successful, his next challenge will be to submit a draft budget by Oct. 1.
pro-estAs France has been struggling to find a way out of this political crisis, there's no better name to take over as prime minister than Michel Barnier. Despite being little known in his own country, his proven negotiating skills and long experience in building consensus in Brussels will be key to deal with a fractured National Assembly.
Macron's centrists and the French left joined forces in the snap elections to try to prevent the victory of the National Rally, but to no avail. Now that Barnier has been appointed as prime minister, it's clear that Le Pen's right-wing party is the political grouping to be pleased if the president really wants to ensure stability.