Michel Barnier: French Politician and Prime Minister

• Michel Barnier, born on January 9, 1951, is a French politician.
• Served as Prime Minister of France from September to December 2024.

Political Career

• Barnier is a member of the Les Républicains (LR) party, formerly associated with Gaullist parties like UDR, RPR, and UMP.
• He held several French cabinet positions from 1993 to 2009 under governments from Édouard Balladur to François Fillon.
• Served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2010 to 2014.
• Was vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2010 to 2015.
• Served as the EU's chief negotiator for Britain's exit from the European Union from October 2016 to 2021.
• Sought his party's nomination for President of France in the 2022 election but finished third at the 2021 The Republicans congress.
• President Emmanuel Macron appointed him Prime Minister following the 2024 legislative election.
• At 73, Barnier is the oldest person to assume the office of prime minister under the Fifth Republic.
• His government lost a vote of no confidence in Parliament three months into his tenure, on December 4, 2024.
• Barnier and his government resigned and were succeeded by François Bayrou on December 13.
• His tenure is the shortest as Prime Minister under the Fifth Republic.

Political Positions

• Barnier is described as a pro-European, Gaullist conservative.
• Advocates for stricter controls on extra-European immigration.
• Supports expanding prison capacity.
• Supports the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences for specific crimes.

Early Life and Education

• Born in La Tronche in the French Alps in 1951, into a Gaullist family.
• His father, Jean Barnier, was a leather and textiles craftsman.
• His mother, Denise Durand, was involved with the Christian left and founded a chapter of the League against road violence.
• He is the youngest of three sons.
• A former scout and choirboy.
• Graduated from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) in 1972.
• Was a classmate of future prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at ESCP.
• Member of the Conférence Olivaint, a student organization for aspiring politicians.

National Politics

• Served on the staff of various Gaullist ministers in the 1970s.
• Elected to the National Assembly in 1978 at age 27, representing Savoie for the RPR until 1993.
• Voted for the abolition of capital punishment and against reducing the age of consent for same-sex relationships in the 1980s.
• Became president of the departmental council of Savoie in 1982.
• Co-organized the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992.
• First joined the Cabinet as Minister of the Environment in 1993.
• Appointed Minister for European Affairs in 1995, serving until 1997.
• Served as a European Commissioner for Regional Policy in the Prodi Commission from 1999 to 2004.
• Foreign Minister in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government until June 2005.
• Vice-president of the European People's Party from 2006 until 2015.
• Re-joined the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture in 2007 under Nicolas Sarkozy.
• In 2016, a judge requested that a case involving Barnier, Dominique de Villepin, and Michèle Alliot-Marie be referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic, regarding the exfiltration of mercenaries responsible for an attack on the Bouaké penal camp during the 2004 Ivory Coast conflict.

European Politics

• Worked as a special advisor to José Manuel Barroso in 2006.
• Proposed the creation of a European civil-protection force.
• Served on the Amato Group during 2006–2007, which worked on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into the Treaty of Lisbon.
• Led the UMP list in Ile-de-France for the 2009 European Parliament election.
• Confirmed as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services in February 2010.
• Argued for a "coherent single market with intelligent rules that apply everywhere" regarding the European banking system reform.
• Handled the reform of the financial sector, the banking union, and the digital single market as Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.
• Unsuccessfully sought the nomination of the European People's Party for President of the European Commission in March 2014.
• Served twice as Acting Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship in Antonio Tajani's stead in 2014.
• Served as an unpaid special adviser to Juncker on defence policy from 2015.

Brexit Negotiator

• Appointed as the European Commission's chief negotiator with the United Kingdom over leaving the European Union on July 27, 2016.
• Led the European Commission's Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UKTF) from 2019 to 2021.
• Was the main negotiator for the 2020 trade deal talks between the UK and EU.
• Appointed special adviser to President Ursula von der Leyen in January 2021, overseeing the ratification of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

2022 Presidential Campaign

• Set up a political faction within the Republicans called "Patriot and European" in February 2021.
• Launched his presidential campaign on August 27, 2021.
• Placed third in the first round of voting at the party's 2021 congress in December with 23.93% of the vote, endorsing Valérie Pécresse in the second round.

Prime Minister of France

• Appointed as prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron on September 5, 2024, following the resignation of Gabriel Attal.
• The period between Attal's resignation and Barnier's appointment was the longest period that the French Fifth Republic had spent under a caretaker government.
• Described as a compromise candidate, acceptable to parties from the centre, the right and the far right.
• His initial challenges were forming a new government, passing the vote of confidence, and submitting the 2025 budget by October 1 to parliament.
• Stated he would continue some of Macron's policies, including refusing to repeal the raising of the retirement age to 64.
• Faced a divided National Assembly with the leftist New Popular Front, Macron's Ensemble, and the far-right National Rally.
• Invoked article 49.3 of the French Constitution on December 2, 2024, to adopt the Social Security budget for 2025 without a parliamentary vote.
• His government was ousted by a motion of no-confidence on December 4, the first since 1962.

Political Positions (Detailed)

• Stated France's most pressing issues were immigration, public finances, and rebuilding industrial and agricultural capacities in July 2024.
• His main priorities upon appointment were education, security, and immigration control.
• During his 2021 presidential campaign, he favored a referendum on tightening the legal framework for immigration.
• Proposed "putting a stop to non-European immigration for three to five years".
• Proposed to stop regularizations, limit family reunification, reduce the reception of foreign students, and limit the double penalty.
• Proposed expanding prison capacity and imposing mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes.
• Characterized as close to the neoliberal policies of Emmanuel Macron on economic issues.
• Proposed cutting production taxes, raising the retirement age, lengthening the working week, and tightening conditions for access to social assistance.
• Regarded as pro-European and supporting NATO.
• Supports Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Other Information

• Voted for the abolition of capital punishment in 1981.
• Voted against reducing the age of consent for same-sex relationships to 15 in 1981.
• Has been a member of the Sustainability and Legacy Commission of the International Olympic Committee.
• Sits on the board of trustees of Friends of Europe, a Brussels-based think tank.
• Published My Secret Brexit Diary in 2021.
• Married Isabelle Altmayer in 1982; they have three children.
• Underwent surgery for a cervical lesion in October 2024.

Honours and Decorations

• Officier of the Legion of Honour (France)
• Commander of the Order of Agricultural Merit (France)
• Commander of the Order of Maritime Merit (France)
• Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany)
• Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (Poland)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal)
• Grand Officier of the Military Order of Christ (Portugal)
• Commander of the Order of the Star (Romania)
• Cross of the Order of Merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Sovereign Military Order of Malta)
• Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Uruguay)