Michel Barnier was appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron. The new occupant of Matignon holds a very right-wing line on certain issues.
The essentials
- Michel Barnier has been appointed Prime Minister. He was received at length yesterday evening by Emmanuel Macron and had spent part of last night at the Elysée Palace, discussing with the President. The transfer of power should take place around 4 p.m., as indicated by Gabriel Attal in a message intended for his close relations.
- Emmanuel Macron had made it known that only a Prime Minister who would not be subject to the risk of a motion of censure would be appointed and the choice of Michel Barnier was thought out with this conviction. However, the President does not have this assurance. All left-wing MPs should, unsurprisingly, file a motion of censure; the RN intends to wait for the Prime Minister’s positions to agree not to censure him, while setting conditions.
- Michel Barnier, who presents himself as a social Gaullist, has very tough positions on several areas. During his campaign for the LR primary of the 2022 presidential election, he notably took up a proposal from the far right, proposing a “referendum” and a “moratorium” on immigration, even arguing for a constitutional reform to “no longer be subject to the rulings of the CJEU or the ECHR”. “The far right does not have a monopoly on debates, ideas, sometimes a few solutions”, he said again last year on France Culture.
Live
14:08 – In 1981, Michel Barnier voted against the decriminalization of homosexuality
As Public Sénat indicates, in 1981, Michel Barnier, then a member of parliament, voted against the decriminalization of homosexuality for minors over 15, just like François Fillon or Jacques Chirac. Three years earlier, he entered the National Assembly as the youngest member of the chamber.
14:02 – At 73, the oldest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic
Aged 73, Michel Barnier was a minister for the first time in 1993. Before occupying this position three times under Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. European Commissioner, EU negotiator on Brexit, he notably reappeared in 2021 for the Republican primary before the 2022 presidential election. Arriving in 3rd position, he was notably beaten by Valérie Pécresse. He succeeds the youngest tenant of Matignon of the Fifth Republic, while he is the oldest.
13:51 – Michel Barnier, elected since the age of 27
Michel Barnier had barely entered adolescence when he began his political career as an activist for the Gaullist party. After studying business, he worked as a project manager, and became a member of parliament at the age of 27. He was then the youngest member of parliament in the Palais Bourbon. In 1982, he was elected president of the General Council of Savoie. Under the Balladur government, he was appointed Minister of the Environment, then Minister Delegate for European Affairs. Michel Barnier then alternated between the roles of minister and European Commissioner.
1:46 p.m. – Mélenchon and Le Pen react to the nomination of Michel Barnier
“The election was stolen from the French,” reacted the leader of France Insoumise, pointing out the fact that the political party of the new Prime Minister, LR, is a very small parliamentary group in the Assembly. “I do not want to believe that the French accept being treated this way,” he declared in a video on his YouTube channel, calling on the French to demonstrate on September 7.
Marine Le Pen, for her part, sets her conditions so that the RN does not bring down the government by voting for the motion of censure that will be tabled by the left: “Sixty days after the second round of the legislative elections, Michel Barnier is appointed Prime Minister. As we announced to the President of the Republic, we will demand that the new head of government respect the 11 million French people who voted for the National Rally, that he respects them personally and their ideas. We will be attentive to the project that he will carry, and attentive to ensuring that the aspirations of our voters, who represent a third of the French, are heard and respected.”
13:36 – Gabriel Attal already ready to leave his place to Michel Barnier
The resigning Prime Minister posted this message on Twitter: “In a word: thank you. The bond we have is the most precious thing I have. Count on me to continue to weave it.” The transfer of power is already planned.
13:29 – Emmanuel Macron’s justification is summary
The Elysée press release states that the appointment of Michel Barnier “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 chance to unite as broadly as possible.”
13:26 – Michel Barnier appointed Prime Minister
Michel Barnier was appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron, via a press release from the Elysée. The president is now asking the former European Commissioner to “form a unifying government in the service of the country”.
1:22 p.m. – A speech by Michel Barnier in the afternoon?
If Michel Barnier is appointed early this afternoon, then everything should accelerate very quickly: he should take Gabriel Attal’s place at Matignon shortly, during a transfer of power already well prepared by the current Prime Minister. The words he will pronounce at that moment will be scrutinized by all, and first and foremost by the deputies who will be able to form an idea of the line he intends to embody and to what extent he is prepared to give pledges to the political parties that would come to give him support.
13:16 – Le Pen will not immediately censor Michel Barnier
The political service of TF1 indicates that the National Rally will not announce today any intention to censure the Prime Minister. The parliamentary group “will wait for the general policy statement to position itself” on Michel Barnier’s government, Marine Le Pen’s entourage indicates to TF1. Red lines are already given by the extreme right, which points to “always the same priorities: respect for RN voters, proportional representation, the fight against insecurity and immigration and public finances”.
1:14 p.m. – Michel Barnier leaves an interview with Emmanuel Macron
Michel Barnier was seen leaving the Elysée Palace after a meeting with Emmanuel Macron, reports AFP.
13:11 – Michel Barnier, author of several books
In addition to his political career, Michel Barnier is also the author of several books, notably dedicated to his political commitments as well as European issues. He notably wrote “The ecological challenge, each for all” in 2000, “Sortie l’Europe des idées reçues” in 2005 or even, “La grande illusion: journal secret du Brexit”, in 2021.
12:58 – Michel Barnier “has no legitimacy” for Yoann Gillet, RN deputy
For his part, National Rally MP Yoann Gillet believes that Michel Barnier “has no legitimacy through his political party”. For him, “the question is whether Michel Barnier will be under the thumb of Emmanuel Macron” or “if he is independent”, he indicated on BFMTV.
12:55 – The nomination of Barnier would be a “gigantic scam” for Ian Brossart (PCF)
PCG spokesman Ian Brossart spoke of a “gigantic scam” with the probable nomination of Michel Barnier, speaking to BFMTV this Thursday. “Barnier is Macron with a few more years, a few more centimetres and a few more white hairs. But from the point of view of the political line it’s exactly the same thing,” he regrets.
12:46 – Macron surveyed his executives regarding Barnier
Emmanuel Macron is said to have tested the hypothesis of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister with the executives of his political family this Thursday morning, according to information gathered by BFMTV. Discussions which could have convinced the head of state to appoint him to Matignon.
12:35 – Michel Barnier “is very focused” according to his entourage
Big favorite for Matignon since this Thursday, September 5, 2024, Michel Barnier “is very focused” and “very discreet as since the beginning of the consultations”, on the formation of a potential new government, explains his entourage to BFMTV. He could be appointed Prime Minister, in place of Gabriel Attal, around 1 p.m.
Learn more
Can Michel Barnier be appointed Prime Minister? In the columns of OpinionWednesday, September 4, the name of the former European Union negotiator of the Brexit conditions and candidate for the right-wing primary for the 2022 presidential election, who at the time intended to “bring together the right, the center and others”, appeared as the best option. The daily newspaper suggests that this hypothesis would be preferred by the Secretary General of the Élysée, Alexis Kohler, who has been arguing from the beginning in favor of a rather technical profile for Matignon. A point on which Michel Barnier seems to correspond, beyond his partisan commitments within the right.
Minister under Balladur, Juppé and Fillon, MP for Savoie, senator and European MP, the native of La Tronche, near Grenoble (Isère), now aged 73, has a political CV that is, to say the least, quite full. Michel Barnier is especially considered less divisive than Xavier Bertrand and David Lisnard, the other right-wing personalities mentioned for this position.
Can Michel Barnier escape a motion of censure?
The former Brexit negotiator should, like the others, be censored by all the deputies of the New Popular Front. “Barnier is a right-wing policy. The issue is no longer even the casting, but the line. Macron must now assume what he wants as a coalition in Parliament,” reacted the socialist Pierre Jouvet to the capital’s daily newspaper on Wednesday evening. The line within the left has been quite clear since the results of the legislative elections: any government with a different orientation than theirs will be censored. If hesitations can divide the alliance of the New Popular Front on a few center-left profiles mentioned for Matignon, there is no doubt about a censorship of the PS, ecologist, LFI and PCF deputies against an LR personality.
Michel Barnier could, however, govern if he is not censured by the National Rally deputies. This is in reality the decisive factor for a right-wing personality to be appointed to Matignon, given the weakness of the Macronist bloc and the refusal of the left-wing bloc to participate in a coalition with the Macronists: only an implicit agreement from Marine Le Pen can allow an LR Prime Minister to remain at the head of a government. According to the first statements by RN personalities, this Thursday, September 5, it is unlikely that the RN will not vote for a motion of censure against Michel Barnier.