France, Macron appoints Michel Barnier as Prime Minister: he will form a government of national unity

The French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. The 73 year old succeeds 35-year-old Gabriel Attal. «The President of the Republic has appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, charging him with establishing a unification government at the service of the country and the French“, the Elysée announced in a press release. “This appointment comes after an unprecedented round of consultations during which, in accordance with his constitutional duty, the President ensured that the Prime Minister and the future government bring together the conditions to be as stable as possible», adds the press release.

Who is Michel Barnier?

A man of great experience both on the French and European scene, former minister, former EU commissioner, former European chief negotiator in the complex Brexit negotiationsMichel Barnier will be the new tenant of Matignon, after more than 50 days of political impasse without a government at the helm of the République. Representative of the neo-Gaullist rightpassionate about mountains (he was born in La Tronche, in the French Alps, near Grenoble, not far from Italy), Barnier he always defined himself as “patriot and European”. At 73 years old, he becomes the oldest prime minister in the history of the French Fifth Republic and by a strange irony of fate will take over from the younger prime minister Gabriel Attalin the imminent handover to Matignon.
Barnier He was first minister in 1993then three times during the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. He was twice European Commissioner in Brusselsthen, between 2016 and 2021, he led the negotiations for Great Britain’s exit from the EU, a very difficult task, in which he demonstrated his skills as a negotiator on a continental scale, arousing trust and appreciation among many member states.