SVE NEWS & FRANCE24.COM Sharing Series — New PM Barnier vows to address ‘anger and grievances’ of French

Newly appointed French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Thursday pledged he would work with “all those in good faith” towards more respect and unity in a politically divided country after months of political upheaval.

“The French … today need and expressed their need for respect, unity and appeasement,” Barnier said in his first speech in office, standing in the courtyard of the prime minister’s office next to his predecessor, Gabriel Attal.

President Emmanuel Macron earlier appointed Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister, tasking him with unifying France and ending the political paralysis that followed an inconclusive snap election.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday congratulated veteran politician Michel Barnier on his nomination as French prime minister, wishing him “strength and every success in the tasks ahead”.

“Our two countries are linked in a very special way – two strong partners in the heart of Europe,” wrote Scholz in a statement. “I look forward to our governments continuing to work together to shape the Franco-German friendship for the benefit of our countries and Europe.”

During his handover speech, incoming French Prime Minister Michel Barnier spoke about his “humility”, “Olympic form” and his “determination” to “tackle this new page that is opening up”.

Barnier also said that he would deliver his general policy statement to Parliament in “a few weeks” and that he wanted to “respond to the challenges, anger and suffering” of the French.

“If I had to make just one request of you, prime minister, it would be to continue to make schools an absolute priority,” said outgoing French prime minister Gabriel Attal, who served as minister for education for a few months in 2023, during his handover speech directed towards incoming Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

‘Because schools are the Republic’s life insurance policy.”

“I want to thank all the French people I have met over the last few months by the thousands,” said outgoing French prime minister Gabriel Attal during his handover speech delivered from the courtyard of Matignon (the French prime minister’s official residence and office).

“I take with me your strength of character and your sense of duty.”

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier and ex-prime minister Gabriel Attal have ended their private meeting and are starting to deliver handover speeches.

Former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gave his “friend” and newly appointed French Prime Minister Michel Barnier the following advice: “My dear Michel, keep your cool!”.

Juncker had appointed Barnier as the EU’s Brexit negotiator.

“He has shown great talent in this role,” said Juncker during a telephone interview with AFP. “He is, to tell the truth, a man optimally prepared for the role of prime minister.”

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Gabriel Attal for his service as head of the government during the handover of power between the former prime minister and the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wishes Michel Barnier “all the best” with his appointment as France’s new prime minister, his spokesperson said on Thursday, hailing the strong ties between the two nations.

“We wish him all the best in his new role,” the spokesperson told reporters. “The UK enjoys a strong relationship with France.”

The spokesperson added: “As you know the prime minister visited Paris just last week, and we are committed to working collaboratively on our shared priorities, from tackling illegal migration to supporting Ukraine.”

Formerly a foreign minister and the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier has had a long political career under a series of centre-right governments starting in the mid-1990s under late president Jacques Chirac.

When considering a presidential run in 2022, Barnier surprised some of his EU admirers by tacking to the right, calling for an “electric shock” on security, a moratorium on immigration and the reintroduction of military service.

Valérie Pécresse, president of the wider Paris region and member of the centre-right party Les Républicains, said that Barnier “must find a parliamentary way to restore order to our accounts, our borders and our streets” in a post on X.

Pécresse also “called on him to entrust the regions with experimenting with new powers”.

“In a word: thank you. The bond we have is the most precious thing I have. You can count on me to continue strengthening it,” said outgoing French prime minister Gabriel Attal, accompanied by a video recap of his almost eight months in power.

Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, called on President Macron “to convene an extraordinary session as soon as possible” in a message posted on X.

“Prime Minister Michel Barnier must be able to address the National Assembly quickly and allow us to resume our work.”

“Michel Barnier has neither political legitimacy nor republican legitimacy. The Socialist Party will vote against Michel Barnier’s appointment and his government,” France’s Socialist Party posted on X.

In the wake of snap parliamentary elections called in June, President Emmanuel Macron took his time naming a prime minister. In this week’s show, we take a closer look at how France’s political institutions work: what are the respective roles of the president and the prime minister?

How is power shared at the top? And does the French president have too much power?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday welcomed the nomination of the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s prime minister.

“Congratulations,” said von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm. “I know that Michel Barnier has the interests of Europe and France at heart, as his long experience shows. I wish him every success in his new mission,” she added in the post on X.

Italy’s foreign minister congratulated new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier after his appointment to the role on Thursday.

“Bonne chance mon ami,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, wrote on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister, in a bid to put an end to political paralysis following an inconclusive snap election.

French far-right former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said Thursday her National Rally (RN) party would wait to see the new right-wing premier Michel Barnier’s programme before deciding whether to back him.

“We will wait to see Mr Barnier’s policy speech” to parliament, said Le Pen, the leader in parliament of the RN, the party that holds the most seats in the lower house following July snap polls.

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, whose France Unbowed party (LFI) and allies belong to a left-wing bloc, said President Emmanuel Macron naming the right-wing politician meant the election had been “stolen from the French”.

French government debt prices ticked higher along with bank stocks and the euro on Thursday after President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister.

The yield on France’s 10-year bond, which moves inversely to the price, fell 3 basis points (bps) to trade flat on the day at 2.93% after the announcement, indicating moderate relief among investors.

The risk premium investors demand to hold French debt over Germany, fell slightly to 69 bps, the lowest since Aug. 27. It surged briefly in June to 85 bps, its highest since 2012, following Macron’s decision to call a shock snap election.

The euro touched a session high at $1.1108 on the news, and was last trading 0.12% higher. French banks also touched session highs, while the benchmark CAC stock index ticked up but remained lower on the day.

Although conservative ex-minister Xavier Bertrand and former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve were initially seen as Emmanuel Macron’s favourites, Michel Barnier is “Macron-compatible” and would not be immediately voted out by parliament, an advisor to the president told the AFP news agency, asking not to be named.

A minister in the outgoing government, who also asked not to be named, added that Barnier was “very popular with right-wing members of parliament without being an irritant on the left”.

A key question will now be whether Barnier’s government will manage to get reforms adopted by a deeply divided parliament.

The discreet, conservative politician will quickly face a baptism of fire as time is running out to prepare France’s 2025 budget, which could trigger a vote of no confidence if other parties are not satisfied.

France’s far-right National Rally, one of the biggest party in parliament after the inconclusive snap election in early July, said it acknowledged Barnier’s appointment.

“We will judge his general policy speech, his budgetary decisions and his actions on the evidence (…) and we reserve all political means of action if this is not the case in the coming weeks,” said Jordan Bardella, RN’s chairman, in a post on X.

A statement from Emmanuel Macron’s office announcing Michel Barnier’s appointment said he had been tasked “with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people.”

“This appointment 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 chances of uniting as broadly as possible,” the statement said.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from France’s hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party, said Emmanuel Macron’s appointment of Michel Barnier as the country’s new prime minister showed that the result of the parliament election in July had been stolen.

He called for street protests on September 7.

Although there is no guarantee Barnier’s government will manage to get reforms adopted by a hung parliament, the far-right National Rally (RN) signalled earlier on Thursday it would not immediately reject Barnier, if he met certain conditions.

Barnier is a staunch pro-European and a moderate career politician, but he toughened his discourse considerably during his failed 2021 bid to get his conservative party’s ticket for the presidential election, saying immigration was out of control – a view shared by the RN.

RN lawmaker Sebastien Chenu told BFM TV that the far-right party would wait to see what Barnier has to say on immigration, and on changing France’s voting system.

Lawmaker Laurent Jacobelli, also from the RN, said a condition was that parliament be dissolved as soon as possible – which would be early July. “The RN wants a prime minister who is committed to dissolving as soon as possible and establishing proportional representation (for parliamentary elections),” Jacobelli told TF1.