After weeks of intrigue, Emmanuel Macron has chosen the next prime minister of France. He is the veteran Michel Barnierformer minister and Brexit negotiator for the European Union, conservative and candidate of Nicolas Sarkozy’s Republican Party in the last legislative elections. The French president thus puts an end to speculation and predictions on the left and right, and opts for a profile with experience in Brussels and far from extremist blocs.
Barnier, Macron’s fifth prime minister since he arrived at the Elysée, led negotiations in Brussels between 2016 and 2021 for Britain’s exit. Before that, he was a commissioner under Romano Prodi, and foreign minister between 2004 and 2005, and agriculture minister between 2007 and 2009. Now he will have to weather the storm of the National Assembly born out of the last elections, with three large groups at odds and no simple majorities.
His profile contrasts with that of his predecessor, if only because of their ages. Barnier, at 73, is the longest-serving prime minister since the establishment of the Fifth Republic. The outgoing and brief Gabriel Attalhowever, was the youngest: he took office at 34 years old.
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