Macron appoints former EU Commissioner Barnier as new Prime Minister of France

France has a new prime minister after the election. Now Emmanuel Macron's country is facing a difficult task of forming a government.

Paris – The former EU chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, will be France's next prime minister. President Emmanuel Macron appointed the 73-year-old conservative politician on Thursday and tasked him with forming a government. Barnier had previously met with Macron in the Élysée Palace. Macron had spent days talking with all political forces in parliament to explore the possibility of a government that was as broad and stable as possible.

Conservative and experienced: France's new Prime Minister Barnier faces a difficult task

The 73-year-old Barnier is an influential figure in France's conservative Republicans. He can look back on a decades-long political career. He was Environment Minister under François Mitterrand, Foreign Minister under Jacques Chirac and Agriculture Minister under Nicolas Sarkozy. The native of eastern France has also worked as an EU Commissioner on several occasions. He also began as the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator.

It remains to be seen whether Barnier can form a government with a majority. The conservatives have stressed that they do not want to be part of a government. However, they will at least tolerate a Barnier government. The support of the Macron camp will probably benefit the new head of government.

However, it is difficult to predict how he could get the necessary votes from the left-wing camp. It is possible that he is at the end of the right-wing nationalist tolerance – out of support for Barnier's restrictive positions on migration policy.

Change of government in France also means less power for President Macron

With the change of government, the liberal Macron will have to give up power. The prime minister will become more important as the head of government policy. Macron will retain the upper hand in foreign policy.

In the early parliamentary elections, the left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire came out on top, ahead of Macron's centrist forces and the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National around Marine Le Pen. Neither camp received an absolute majority. The process of forming a government was therefore stalled for a long time.

The main challenge for Macron was to find a prime minister who would not have a majority against him and could therefore be overthrown by a vote of no confidence. (dpa/AFP)