Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier named as Frances new prime minister

President Emmanuel Macron has named EU former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister.

The announcement came on Thursday after more than 50 days of caretaker government.

The appointment of the 73-year-old Barnier follows weeks of intense efforts by Macron and his aides to find a candidate who might be able to build loose groupings of backers in parliament and survive possible attempts by Mr Macron’s opponents to quickly topple the new government that Mr Barnier will now put together and lead.

A statement from Mr Macron’s office announcing Mr Barnier’s appointment said he had been tasked “with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people”.

The statement added: “This appointment comes after an unprecedented cycle of consultations during which, in accordance with his constitutional duty, the President ensured that the prime minister and the future government would meet the conditions to be as stable as possible and give themselves the chances of uniting as broadly as possible.”

Mr Barnier, a career politician proud of his humble roots in France’s Alpine region of Haute-Savoie, is no stranger to complex and difficult tasks.

He was the European Union’s chief negotiator in the difficult talks with the UK over its Brexit departure from the bloc.

He will replace Gabriel Attal, who resigned on July 16 following quick-fire legislative elections that produced a divided and hung parliament, plunging France into political turmoil.

But Mr Macron kept Mr Attal and his ministers on in a caretaker capacity, handling day-to-day affairs, so political instability wouldn’t overshadow the July 26-August 11 Paris Olympics, when France was in the global spotlight.

In political career over more than 50 years, Mr Barnier has served as French foreign, European affairs, environment and agriculture minister — and twice as a European commissioner — but until now had never had a tilt at any leadership post, like that of president or prime minister.

Published: 05/09/2024 by Radio NewsHub