After 50 days of a caretaker government, President Emmanuel Macron has finally named former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as prime minister, tasked "with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people". Who is he and what are his chances of surviving a no-confidence vote in France's divided parliament?
Barnier was not an obvious candidate for the post, but after weeks of discussions with leaders of all the major French parties, he emerged as a more viable pick than either Socialist former prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve or conservative regional president Xavier Bertrand – the two names most often floated.
A veteran politician from the conservative Republicans (LR) party, 73-year-old Barnier becomes France's oldest prime minister under the current Fifth Republic, founded in 1958.
He replaces Gabriel Attal, who became France's youngest ever prime minister when he was appointed in January at the age of 34.
Macron names ex-Brexit negotiator Barnier as French PM
From the Alps to Brussels
Born in France's Alpine region of Haute-Savoie, Barnier went into local politics aged just 22. He was elected to parliament five years later in 1978, becoming its youngest MP aged 27.
In 1981 he voted against the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
During his more than 50-year political career, he has served as France's minister of foreign affairs, European affairs, environment and agriculture, as well as an LR senator, and twice as a European commissioner.
A staunch pro-European, Barnier was the EU's chief negotiator from 2016 to 2021, during which time he piloted the difficult talks with Britain over its Brexit departure from the bloc.
He drove a hard bargain during the negotiations, infuriating Brexiteers but winning praise from Brussels. According to Le Monde, he was even applauded at the time by the 27 member states, who praised his "art of consensus, his patience and tenacity".
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A moderate for most of his career, he took a hard line on immigration in his campaign to become the LR candidate in France's 2022 presidential election.
Claiming immigration was "out of control", he proposed a three- to five-year moratorium on people arriving in France from outside the EU.
His position, seen as a bid to garner support from the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party, surprised and disappointed some. He ultimately lost out as candidate to Valérie Pecresse.
Daunting task
Barnier is now faced with the daunting task of forming a government that will not collapse in the event of a no-confidence vote, and working with the bitterly divided, hung parliament that emerged from parliamentary elections that Macron called in June.
While the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance came out on top after the final round of voting on 7 July, no one party won an outright majority.
Breaking that political stalemate is a matter of urgency and parliament has to get down to business fast, notably in submitting a draft 2025 budget by 1 October.
Government finances are under considerable strain and outgoing finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday that the French deficit would be higher than predicted, at 5.6 of GDP this year – well over the 3 percent limit fixed by Brussels.
As a former EU commissioner, Barnier will likely take EU compliance seriously, but convincing the left to rein in the budget while not raising taxes will not be easy.
Mixed welcome
Jean-Luc Mélénchon, the influential head of the hard-left France Unbowed party that dominates the NPF, immediately came out against Barnier's appointment.
In a social media post, he said Macron had officially denied the parliamentary election results in naming a member of the party that had "come last in the legislative election".
Mélénchon predicted Barnier would not get a majority backing in the fractured National Assembly.
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The Socialist Party also said it would vote against Barnier's appointment as PM.
"Michel Barnier has neither political legitimacy nor republican legitimacy. The Socialist Party will vote against Michel Barnier's appointment and his government," it posted on X.
The far-right RN, whose parliamentary group is headed up by Marine Le Pen, was more conciliatory.
Le Pen said she was willing to give Barnier a chance, but that the RN wouldn't take part in his government because the new premier "does not share our ideas".
However, fellow MP Sebastien Chenu told BFM TV that while Barnier "was not a dream come true for France", his party would wait and see what the premier had to say on immigration and on changing the voting system to proportional representation for parliamentary elections – a measure the RN has longed pushed for.
