From one aborted 8 p.m. to another. On September 18, Michel Barnier almost invited himself to this great televised mass. Not to reveal his government, but to throw in the towel. The Savoyard is then distressed by the whims of his allies, already suspected of favoring their shop over their country. His resignation letter is ready. It takes all of Gérard Larcher's diplomacy to avoid the worst. “Take 24 hours to think,” urges the President of the Senate. The Brexit negotiator follows this wise advice and trains his team. He quickly dreams of structural reforms, his “horizon line”. The JT and Michel Barnier, a painful companionship. A man on the edge of the abyss received this Tuesday, December 3, TF1 and France 2, on the eve of probable censorship.
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The situation is serious, his office has contacted the two channels for this solemn interview. With a request to relocate maintenance to Matignon. “This elevates him to a higher position than his own,” smiles a relative. A quarter of a presidential hour, in the absence of a year on rue de Varenne? The fate of Michel Barnier seems sealed. The National Rally has decided to join its voices with those of the left to bring down the government, despite cascading concessions on the social security budget. Before the broadcast, a supporter of the Prime Minister submits three possible interventions to him. A simple call for responsibility, wise but without chance of success. A full-blown attack on the RN, a formation of incorrigible populism. Or a final concession on pensions to put the far right up against the wall.
Between political testament and last chance
Michel Barnier invents a curious fourth way. The head of government nourishes his eternal ambivalence towards the RN, devil of the Republic and kingmaker. Thus, he singles out Marine Le Pen, who would engage in “a sort of one-upmanship”. “I don’t want to enter into a form of blackmail,” he says, refusing any new gesture on the indexation of pensions, the red line of the far right. Here he is inhabited by unprecedented modesty. The mention of Marine Le Pen in a Matignon press release on the absence of drug reimbursement in 2025? “It was the last one to talk about it,” defends Michel Barnier. “This demand is also in the left’s proposals.” Which also cites Laurent Wauquiez, apostle of a gesture to retirees.
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At the same time, Michel Barnier multiplies the beacon calls to the RN deputies, with the decisive votes on Wednesday. He certainly does not concede to them any cultural victory, on immigration or identity. It rather plays on the repulsive effect of a common vote with the left, invariably described as “extreme left”. The Savoyard rolls out the abrasive CV of La France insoumise. Here, a proposal to repeal the offense of condoning terrorism. There, an incident caused during a tribute paid this Tuesday to René Couanau, former deputy who died on November 30. And then, there is this motion of censure tabled by the NFP, cited by the head of government before the French. Doesn’t it target the “vile obsessions” of the far right?
So says Michel Barnier. He is not addressing a refractory left but the RN, while placing thorns on his outstretched hand. The seduction operation takes the form of a pressure attack. “They want our votes and not our heads, we have been experiencing this for forty years!”, Marine Le Pen annoyed in The World on November 28. She was talking about voters. The Prime Minister fears the face of the boss of RN deputies, less the face of his flock. This attempt is also an appeal to the “eleven million voters” of the RN in the legislative elections, as the Prime Minister underlines.
“The Prime Minister could only fail”
Michel Barnier and the RN. The former European commissioner has been placed “under surveillance” since his appointment. Necessity is law. He must send pledges to this formation to save his head. But the head of government at the same time wants to immunize himself from any trial in collusion with the RN, an accusation launched by certain allies of the “common base”, with which the graft has never taken hold. Negotiating with the extreme right imposes an obligation on you to achieve results. Without success, there is no one to defend you. “We could excuse him if there was a real deal and an absence of censorship. Otherwise, he will lose on all counts,” confided the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) deputy Jean-René Cazeneuve on Monday, embarrassed by the press release. by Matignon quoting Marine Le Pen. This “deal” will not take place. “By placing his budget in the catastrophic continuity of Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister could only fail. On the other hand, he had the choice, and the duty, not to lie,” reacted the RN deputy after the interview with Prime Minister.
This television interview is full of ambiguities. It sounds like a last-ditch attempt to avoid the inevitable censorship. The Prime Minister engaged in a one-on-one meeting with the voters of the National Rally, leaving part of the country on the sidelines. But at the same time he delivered a form of political testament. The self-portrait of a man disinterested in honors. “The gilding that is around us, the official cars, the gold of the Republic, I don't care, that's not the subject, it's not me who's to blame. What's happening goes way beyond largely my only condition.” The self-portrait of a man driven solely by the general interest, far from partisan wars. “I think the best interest of the country, the common good, the national interest, that means something.” His personal destiny hangs by a thread. His legacy, between sincere convictions and strategic maneuvers, remains murky.
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