Emmanuel Macron appoints Michel Barnier as new Prime Minister

Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, has been appointed Prime Minister by the President of the Republic, following two weeks of consultations.

Born on 9 January 1951 in Isère, Michel Barnier began his political career as a general councillor for Savoie in 1973. In 1978, at the age of 27, he became a Member of Parliament.
In 1993, Michel Barnier joined Edouard Balladur’s government as Minister for the Environment and then Minister Delegate for European Affairs. Michel Barnier was then appointed European Commissioner in 1999, with responsibility for reforming regional and cohesion policy, as well as reforming the institutions and the European Convention on the Future of the Union.
He became Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2004 and Minister for Agriculture in 2007.

In 2010 he was appointed European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services. His overall ambition was to relaunch the single market.

From 2016 to 2021, he was chief negotiator for the European Union in the Brexit negotiations.

Michel Barnier was a candidate in the right-wing primary in 2021, but was eliminated in the first round.

The new Prime Minister will first have to form his government, in agreement with the Head of State. ‘Emmanuel Macron has tasked him with forming a unity government to serve the country and the French’, the Élysée said in a statement.

It now faces the delicate task of finding a way through a National Assembly split into three blocks following the legislative elections on 30 June and 7 July.