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Former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has been appointed as the new French Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron.
"The President of the Republic has appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. He has tasked him to form a united government to serve the country and the French people ," said a press release from the Elysée.
The announcement ends a political saga, by several candidates, strategically unveiled by the Elysee to test the reaction of the French.
Now, Barnier must form a government capable of two difficult tasks: survive a no-confidence vote and define a set of policy priorities that satisfy the parties.
Positioned on the right wing of Les Républicains (LR), he has held a number of key political posts in France, as Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs in the 2000s and as European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services (2010-2014). .
He also ran in the 2021 LR presidential election, coming third with 23% of the party's vote.
His appointment is expected to cause reactions from European political circles and in the United Kingdom, where he was best known as the EU's chief negotiator on Brexit deals.
In an exclusive interview with Euractiv in February, Barnier criticized Europe's far right for "not having learned the lessons of Brexit". He was particularly critical of the Rassemblement National (RN), the party that could now decide Barnier's fate in a no-confidence vote, which he accused of wanting to leave the EU.
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