Governing has long been difficult for France's cabinet. When it comes to the discussion about the immigration law, there is not only anger in parliament. President Macron is now trying to restart.
Paris – A year and a half after the start of his second term in office, French President Emmanuel Macron is restructuring his government and replacing Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. After days of speculation, Borne submitted the centrist government's resignation following a conversation with Macron in the presidential palace. It was initially unclear when a new government would be formed and who would lead it. Borne had held the office since mid-May 2022.
Formally, the resignation of the Prime Minister in France is linked to the resignation of the entire government. Like Borne, all ministers will initially only be in office on an executive basis. However, it is expected that Macron will stick to many of the heavyweights of the previous government and perhaps only make new appointments in some places.
Challenges for Macron
Macron, who has no longer had an absolute majority in the National Assembly since the 2022 parliamentary elections and is dependent on votes from the opposition, is seeking a liberation strike. He ultimately pushed through the highly controversial pension reform last year without a final vote in the National Assembly. Most recently, there were difficulties in December with the new immigration law, another of the president's key projects. The plan was passed after the government made massive concessions to the conservative Républicains – at the expense of intense tensions within the Macron camp, including the resignation of then Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau.
Macron will face important challenges in the coming months. Marine Le Pen's right-wing nationalists are threatening to significantly overtake his troops in the European elections. In addition, the major event of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris wants to be organized in the summer, where France wants to present its best side. It is expected that Macron will move forward with a renewed cabinet and hold his camp together, especially after the internal quarrels.
Possible successors for Borne
There is now speculation as to who could follow Borne. A promising candidate is the political whiz kid Gabriel Attal, who was known to the French as a government spokesman and most recently headed the Ministry of Education when he was just 34 years old. Attal is considered quite popular and has the reputation of being able to discuss the matter with representatives of other political camps.
Acting Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu is also being traded. However, the 37-year-old is reportedly too conservative for some in the Macron camp. Opportunities are also attributed to the 43-year-old former agriculture minister Julien Denormandie, who, like Macron, comes from the left and is an early companion of the president.
Limited impact on foreign policy
The government reshuffle is unlikely to have any influence on France's actions at the European level, nor on its relations with Germany. The president ultimately holds the reins in French domestic and foreign policy. The prime minister and the government generally follow the prescribed course.
It became clear several times that the Macron-Borne couple was not a dream couple. Borne repeatedly made it clear that she represents her own points of view – rather unusual for a prime minister in France. The French media have already predicted her expulsion several times. But Macron, at least it seemed, had no better alternative than the rather cool and systematic Borne.
Even if she did not manage to form a reliable majority in the National Assembly as Macron had hoped, she still pushed through his key pension reform plans and, most recently, the immigration law, despite considerable resistance on the streets and in parliament. Macron thanked her “from the bottom of his heart” on the X platform, formerly Twitter. She did an exemplary job. dpa
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