Michel Barnier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister of France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 September 2024 – 13 December 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Emmanuel Macron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Gabriel Attal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | François Bayrou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Michel Jean Barnier (1951-01-09)9 January 1951 (age 74) La Tronche,France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | LR (2015–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | UDR (1967–1976) RPR (1976–2002) UMP (2002–2015) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Éric and Nicolas Altmayer (brothers-in-law) René Altmayer (grandfather-in-law) Victor Joseph Altmayer (great-grandfather-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | ESCP Business School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michel Jean Barnier (French:[miʃɛlbaʁnje]ⓘ; born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who served asPrime Minister of France from September to December 2024. A member of a series ofGaullist parties (UDR,RPR,UMP,LR), Barnier has served in severalFrench cabinet positions under the governments fromÉdouard Balladur toFrançois Fillon from 1993 to 2009. At theEuropean Union (EU) level, Barnier wasEuropean Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2010 to 2014 and vice-president of theEuropean People's Party (EPP) from 2010 to 2015. From October 2016 to 2021, he was the EU'schief negotiator onBritain's exit from the European Union.
In August 2021, Barnier sought his party's nomination forPresident of France in the2022 presidential election, but obtained third place at the2021 The Republicans congress. In September 2024 PresidentEmmanuel Macron appointed him to the premiership following the2024 snap legislative election.
At the age of 73, Barnier is the oldest person to take office as prime minister under theFifth Republic. On 4 December 2024, three months into his tenure, hisgovernment was brought down by a vote ofno confidence in Parliament.[1] The following day, Barnier and his government resigned. Barnier was succeeded on 13 December byFrançois Bayrou. His tenure as Prime minister is the shortest so far under the Fifth Republic.
Barnier is apro-European,Gaullist conservative. He has advocated for stricter controls on extra-European immigration, expanding prison capacity and the introduction ofmandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes.
Michel Jean Barnier was born atLa Tronche in theFrench Alps, into aGaullist family in 1951. His father, Jean Barnier,[2] was a leather and textiles craftsman.[3] His mother, Denise Durand, was a practising member of theChristian left, who founded a local chapter of theLigue contre la violence routière [fr] (League against road violence). Barnier is the youngest of the couple's three sons.[4]
In his youth, Barnier was ascout and choirboy.[3] He graduated from theÉcole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) in 1972.[5] During his studies at the ESCP, he was a classmate ofJean-Pierre Raffarin, future prime minister, and a member of theConférence Olivaint, a student organisation intended to prepare members for political life.[6][7]
Barnier served on the staff of variousGaullist ministers in the 1970s, before being elected in 1978, aged 27, to theNational Assembly as deputy for the department ofSavoie representing theneo-Gaullists,Rally for the Republic (RPR), serving until 1993.[8][9] In the 1980s, he voted for the abolition ofcapital punishment and against reducing theage of consent forsame-sex relationships to that of mixed-sex couples.
Barnier became the youngest president of thedepartmental council of Savoie in 1982, following a deal called theUnion for Savoie [fr] between right-wing and centrist parties in the council.[10] In 1992, he co-organised theWinter Olympics inAlbertville.[11]
Barnier first joined the Cabinet asMinister of the Environment following the right's landslide victory in the1993 legislative election. In 1995,Jacques Chirac appointed himMinister for European Affairs,[12] a role in which he served until the defeat of the presidential majority in the1997 legislative election.[13] Barnier then served as aEuropean Commissioner for Regional Policy in theProdi Commission from 1999 until 2004.[14] He subsequently served asForeign Minister inJean-Pierre Raffarin's government until June 2005 whenDominique de Villepin replaced him withPhilippe Douste-Blazy.[15] From 2006 until 2015, Barnier was vice-president of theEuropean People's Party.[16] In 2007, underNicolas Sarkozy's presidency, he re-joined the Cabinet asMinister of Agriculture.[5]
In 2016, theinvestigating judge Sabine Kheris requested that the case of Barnier,Dominique de Villepin andMichèle Alliot-Marie be referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic. The former ministers were suspected of having allowed theexfiltration of the mercenaries responsible for the attack on theBouaké penal camp during the2004 Ivory Coast conflict, killing nine French soldiers. Supporters of the Ivorian presidentLaurent Gbagbo accused the French government of using the attack as a pretext for military retaliation against him.[17]
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Barnier worked in 2006 as a special adviser toJosé Manuel Barroso, thenPresident of the European Commission, and presented a report to the Council of Ministers proposing the creation of a European civil-protection force.[18] During 2006–2007, he served as member of theAmato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting theTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as theTreaty of Lisbon following its rejection byFrench andDutch voters.[19]
Barnier led the UMP list inIle-de-France for the2009 European Parliament election. In February 2010 he was confirmed asEuropean Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.[20][21][22] In charge of European banking system reform, he argued for a "coherent single market with intelligent rules that apply everywhere".[23] As European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Barnier handled many important issues, such as the reform of the financial sector (40 pieces of legislation between 2010 and 2014), the banking union (starting withEuropean Banking Supervision) and the digital single market.[24]
Barnier stood unsuccessfully for the nomination of theEuropean People's Party to become President of the European Commission in March 2014, losing toJean-Claude Juncker.[25] He was twice appointedActing Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship inAntonio Tajani's stead – first from 19 April to 25 May 2014, while Tajani was on electoral campaign leave for the2014 European Parliament elections, and secondly from 1 to 16 July 2014, after Tajani was elected and took up his seat.[26][27] From 2015, Barnier served as an unpaid special adviser to Juncker on defence policy.[28][29]
On 27 July 2016, Barnier was announced as the European Commission's chief negotiator with theUnited Kingdom overleaving the European Union, underArticle 50 of theTreaty on European Union. Commenting on the appointment, Juncker said: "I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job."[30]
From 2019 to 2021, Barnier led the European Commission'sTask Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF).[31][32][33] He was the main negotiator for the 2020trade deal talks between the UK and EU,[34] receiving his negotiating mandate from theEuropean Council on 25 February 2020.[35]
In January 2021, Barnier was appointed special adviser to PresidentUrsula von der Leyen overseeing the ratification of theEU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, under new arrangements that handed responsibility for implementing the agreement toVice-PresidentMaroš Šefčovič.[36][37]
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In February 2021, Barnier set up a political faction within the Republicans under the name "Patriot and European" in preparation for a possible bid in the2022 presidential election.[38][39]
On 27 August 2021, Barnier launched his presidential campaign. At the party's2021 congress in December, he placed third in the first round of voting with 23.93% of the vote, afterÉric Ciotti (on 25.59%) andValérie Pécresse (on 25.00%); he subsequently endorsed Pécresse.[40] Pécresse was nominated in the second round with 61% of the vote, and proceeded to place in fifth place in the first round of the presidential election, the worst result ever recorded by the Republicans or their Gaullist predecessors[41] She endorsed Macron for the second round of the election.[42] After his defeat, Barnier retreated from front-line politics for most of the three following years.[43][44]
Following gains by opposition parties inthe legislative elections called by PresidentEmmanuel Macron in the summer of 2024, theprime minister,Gabriel Attal, resigned. Macron initially refused his resignation but accepted it on 16 July.[45] On 5 September, Barnier was appointed as prime minister by Macron.[46] The period between Attal's resignation and Barnier's appointment was the longest period that theFrench Fifth Republic had spent under acaretaker government.[44] Barnier is the oldest prime minister in modern French history.Dominique Moïsi, a French political scientist, described Barnier as a compromise candidate, chosen to be acceptable to parties from the centre, the right and the far right.[47]
Barnier's initial challenges as Prime Minister was forming a new government, passing the vote of confidence (with a minimum of 289 out of 577 votes) and submitting the 2025 budget by 1 October to parliament according toReuters, further remarking that it would "be no easy task with the budget deficit already this year running billions of euros over target, leaving Barnier tough choices about calibrating spending cuts and tax rises" and risking the government's position in parliament.[48] On 6 September, Barnier stated that he would continue some of Macron's policies, including refusing to repeal the raising of the retirement age to 64. On immigration he said, "There still is a feeling that our borders are sieves and that migration flows aren't being controlled."[49] In an interview, he remarked that the new government would include the "presidential camp" and "maybe maybe ministers of the previous government".[50]
Barnier was faced with a National Assembly divided nearly evenly into three blocs: the leftistNew Popular Front with a plurality of seats, Macron's centrist to centre-rightEnsemble, and the far-rightNational Rally.[46][51]Marine Le Pen, the leader of National Rally, praised Barnier as "respectful of National Rally voters", but expressed caution as to his legislative agenda. The New Popular Front rejected Barnier's appointment and called for demonstrations against Macron.Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist Party, accused Macron of a "denial of democracy."[44]Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the left-wingLa France Insoumise, said that Macron had "stolen" the election by not appointing a prime minister from the New Popular Front[52] and called for protests against the new government.[53] According toFrance's Interior Ministry, around 110,000 people took part in these protests, which were held in Paris,[54]Montauban,[55]Nice,Lille,Strasbourg andMontpellier, as well as in several rural areas.[56]
On 2 December 2024, Barnier invoked article49.3 of the French Constitution to adopt theSocial Security budget for 2025 without submitting it to a parliamentaryvote.[57] The decision happened after several last-ditch concessions to find a compromise failed, prompting both theNew Popular Front and theNational Rally to file motions of no confidence against his government.[58][59] On 4 December, a majority of deputies voted to oust Barnier's government, which became the first to lose amotion of no-confidence sinceGeorges Pompidou's in 1962.[60]
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Following his appointment as prime minister in 2024, the BBC described Barnier as "a committed, patriotic conservative in the tradition of ...Charles de Gaulle".[43] In a conversation withPolitico during July 2024, after the7 July snap election, Barnier said France's most pressing issues were immigration, the state of its public finances and rebuilding its industrial and agricultural capacities.[61] Upon his appointment as prime minister, he listed his main priorities as education, security and immigration control.[52]
During his 2021 presidential campaign, Barnier stated he would be in favour of proposing a referendum on whether to tighten the legal framework for immigration in France. As a candidate, he stated his intention in "putting a stop to non-European immigration for three to five years," during an interview with French weekly magazineLe Point.[61] He proposed to "immediately stop regularizations, rigorously limit family reunification, reduce the reception of foreign students and the systematic execution of the double penalty".[62][64] He also proposed expanding prison capacity by 20,000 and imposingmandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes.[61]
On economic issues, Barnier has been characterised as close to theneoliberal policies of Emmanuel Macron, including the reduction of taxes and business regulation. As a presidential candidate, Barnier proposed cutting production taxes by €10 billion,[61] raising the retirement age from 62 to 65, lengthening the working week and tightening the conditions for access to social assistance.[62]
Barnier is regarded aspro-European, as supporting NATO, and as favouring support for Ukraine inits war against Russia.[47] He was described as a "Euro-ecstatic" byFrançois Cornut-Gentille, his supporter and colleague in the Republicans.[61] During his presidential campaign, many media organisations commented that Barnier sounded like a Eurosceptic and Brexit supporter, contradicting previous positions he had taken on the matter.[65][66]
In 1981, Barnier voted for theabolition of capital punishment, following a number of other right-wing deputies in breaking party instructions not to do so.[67] In the same year, he was among the conservative politicians, includingJacques Chirac andFrançois Fillon, who voted against reducing theage of consent for same-sex relationships to 15, the same as that for mixed-sex couples.[68] He has made few statements on same-sex relations in the years since.[61]
Barnier has been a member of the Sustainability and Legacy Commission of theInternational Olympic Committee,[69] and of the board of trustees of Friends of Europe, a Brussels-basedthink tank.[70] In 2021, he publishedMy Secret Brexit Diary, a memoir of the EU's negotiations with the UK during its withdrawal from the bloc.[71]
In 1982, Barnier married Isabelle Altmayer, a lawyer; they have three children.[72][43]
In October 2024, Barnier underwent surgery for a cervical lesion.[73]
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Officier of theLegion of Honour[74]
Commander of theOrder of Agricultural Merit[75]
Commander of theOrder of Maritime Merit[76]
Knight Commander of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (
Germany)
Commander's Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Republic of Poland[77](
Poland)
Grand Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry[78] (
Portugal)
Grand Officier of theMilitary Order of Christ[79] ( Portugal)
Commander of theOrder of the Star[80] (
Romania)
Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (
Sovereign Military Order of Malta)
Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay[81] (
Uruguay)
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of the Environment 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister Delegate for European Affairs 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | French European Commissioner 1999–2004 Served alongside:Pascal Lamy | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | ||
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Regional Policy 1999–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2004–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | French European Commissioner 2010–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services 2010–2014 | Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs |
| Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union | ||
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of France 2024 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded byas former Prime Minister | Order of precedence in France Former Prime Minister | Succeeded byas President of the Constitutional Council |
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