This 73-year-old politician, a historic leader of the right, is known in particular for having been the chief negotiator of Brexit. Four times minister, twice European commissioner, Michel Barnier has a long political experience.
Sixty days after Gabriel Attal’s resignation, the name of his successor has finally been announced. Michel Barnier, a historic right-wing figure with a wealth of political experience, was appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron on September 5. This 73-year-old man of Gaullist descent is the oldest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.
Savoyard anchoring
Born in Isère in 1951, Michel Barnier studied business before entering politics. At just 22 years old, he became a general councillor of Savoie for the canton of Bourg-Saint-Maurice (1973-1999). Elected as a member of parliament for Savoie following the 1978 legislative elections, he was at the time the youngest member of parliament in the chamber, and was then elected the youngest president of the general council in the history of Savoie in 1982. As soon as he took office, the Savoyard got involved with triple Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy in the bid for and then the organisation of the 16th Olympic Games in Albertville, which took place in 1992.
Four times minister
After 15 years as a member of parliament, this historic figure of the French right left the National Assembly in 1993 to enter government as Minister of the Environment in the government of Édouard Balladur. He had the Barnier law passed, among other things, which included the creation of the National Commission for Public Debate on Major Infrastructure Projects. This law also established an ecological tax, which made maritime transport passengers participate in the protection of protected areas.
He was then Minister Delegate for European Affairs from 1995 to 1997, within the Alain Juppé government. In this capacity, he was the head of the French delegation for the negotiation of the Treaty of Amsterdam.
In 2004, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the third government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, on March 31, 2004. At that time, he led the operation to free the two journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot in Iraq, and was involved in the release of the French woman Florence Aubenas. In 2007 and 2009, he was Minister of Agriculture in the government of François Fillon.
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Two terms as European Commissioner
Michel Barnier was appointed European Commissioner in 1999. Responsible for re-establishing regional and cohesion policy, he was also tasked with reforming the institutions and the European Convention on the Future of the Union. He participated in the development of the draft European Constitution under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. In 2003, he founded “New Republic”a political club that aims to bring together political decision-makers, business leaders and members of civil society from all sides. In 2006, Michel Barnier was a special advisor to the President of the European Commission, the Portuguese José Manuel Barroso. In this capacity, he presented a report proposing the creation of a European civil protection force, Europe Aid.
He was then appointed European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services between 2010 and 2014. A candidate within the EPP, he briefly sought the post of President of the European Commission, before being defeated by the former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. During this period, he published his book To rest or to be freewhich outlines the European project that he would have implemented in the event of victory. In particular, his general ambition is to relaunch the single market, while the economic and financial crisis of 2008 is raging. “It focuses in particular on the free movement of financial services, public procurement, services, intellectual property and professional qualifications”describes the site touteleurope.
Mr Brexit
Michel Barnier was notably the architect of the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union for the post-Brexit period. A high-risk mission that he led with an iron fist for more than four years, to finally arrive at the signing of an agreement – approximately 1,500 pages – which governs European and British relations from 1is January 2021.
What he said about Macron during the presidential election
“Our country has not been well governed. The failure of the outgoing president is clear. Emmanuel Macron has governed our country, internally and externally, in a solitary and arrogant manner.” In 2021, Michel Barnier was full of criticism of Emmanuel Macron’s policies during a debate in the Republican primary, for which he was a candidate at the time. He finished third, behind Éric Ciotti and Valérie Pécresse. His presidential roadmap included, among other measures, a “moratorium” on immigration.
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