Michel Barnier

Michel Bernard Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a conservative French politician who was the Prime Minister of France from September 2024 to December 2024. He was the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF) from 2019 to 2021. He was Chief Negotiator - Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom from October 2016 to November 2019.^[1][2][3]

Michel Barnier
Prime Minister of France
In office 5 September 2024 – 13 December 2024
President	Emmanuel Macron
Preceded by	Gabriel Attal
Succeeded by	François Bayrou
EU offices Head of the UK Task Force In office 16 November 2019 – 31 March 2021 President Jean-Claude Juncker Ursula von der Leyen Deputy Clara Martínez Alberola Preceded by Position established Succeeded by João Vale de Almeida (as Ambassador to the United Kingdom) Chief Negotiator of Task Force 50 In office 1 October 2016 – 15 November 2019 President Jean-Claude Juncker Deputy Sabine Weyand Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Position abolished European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services In office 10 February 2010 – 31 October 2014 President José Manuel Barroso Preceded by Charlie McCreevy Succeeded by Elżbieta Bieńkowska European Commissioner for Regional Policy In office 16 September 1999 – 31 March 2004 President Romano Prodi Preceded by Monika Wulf-Mathies Succeeded by Jacques Barrot Member of the European Parliament for Île-de-France In office 14 July 2009 – 10 February 2010 Succeeded by Constance Le Grip
French political offices Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries In office 19 June 2007 – 22 June 2009 Prime Minister François Fillon Preceded by Christine Lagarde Succeeded by Bruno Le Maire Minister of Foreign Affairs In office 31 March 2004 – 31 May 2005 Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin Preceded by Dominique de Villepin Succeeded by Philippe Douste-Blazy Minister for European Affairs In office 18 May 1995 – 3 June 1997 Prime Minister Alain Juppé Preceded by Alain Lamassoure Succeeded by Pierre Moscovici Minister of the Environment In office 29 March 1993 – 18 March 1995 Prime Minister Édouard Balladur Preceded by Ségolène Royal Succeeded by Corinne Lepage Senator for Savoie In office 22 September 1997 – 23 October 1999 In office 2 October 1995 – 31 October 1995 Member of the National Assembly for Savoie's 2nd constituency In office 3 April 1978 – 1 May 1993 Departmental Councillor of Savoie In office 5 September 1973 – 13 September 1999
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-09) 9 January 1951 (age 73) La Tronche, France
Political party	LR (2015–present)
Other political affiliations	UDR (1967–1976) RPR (1976–2002) UMP (2002–2015)
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Altmayer ​ (m. 1982)​
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	Diplomat • Politician

Personal life

Michel Jean Barnier was born at La Tronche in the French Alps, into a Gaullist family in 1951. He graduated from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) in 1972.^[4] During his studies at the ESCP, he was a classmate of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, future prime minister.^[5][6]

Politcal career

In France, he was minister of foreign affairs from 2004 to 2005, minister of state for European affairs from 1995 to 1997 and minister of the environment and way of life from 1993 to 1995.

Barnier unsuccessfully ran for President of France in the 2022 election.

Prime Minister

On 5 September 2024, Barnier was appointed as Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron.^[7] At aged 73, he is the oldest person to become prime minister in the French Fifth Republic.^[8] His appointment was very controversial since he was seen as a conservative choice for a divided National Assembly.^[9]

Removal

On 2 December 2024, Barnier resorted to using Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to push through the 2025 budget without a vote. The left-wing New Popular Front had already declared its plans to file a motion of no confidence against the government. Marine Le Pen announced later that day her plan to file her own party's motion against the government.^[10] On 4 December, a majority of deputies voted to end Barnier's government, which became the first to lose a motion of no-confidence since Georges Pompidou's in 1962.^[11]

References

1. "Director / Head of Service Michel Barnier". European Commission. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
2. "European Commission reinforces Brexit team by setting up "Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom" (UKTF)". European Commission. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
3. De La Baume, Maïa; Barigazzi, Jacopo (21 October 2019). "Michel Barnier set to lead 'UK Task Force' in Brexit phase II". POLITICO. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
4. "Who is Michel Barnier, the man primed to be France's next PM?". Euronews. 5 September 2024. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
5. "Les Anciens de la Conférence Olivaint". Conférence Olivaint. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2022..
6. Colon, David (2010). "Les jeunes de la Conférence Olivaint et l'Europe, de 1919 à 1992". Histoire@Politique. 10 (10). Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po: 5. doi:10.3917/hp.010.00101.
7. "Live blog: Macron names Michel Barnier new prime minister". France24. 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
8. "At 73, Michel Barnier is the oldest prime minister in the French Fifth Republic". Le Monde. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
9. "Michel Barnier's first challenges as France's new PM". Reuters. 5 September 2024.
10. Willsher, Kim (2024-12-02). "French government faces no-confidence vote on Wednesday". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
11. "En direct: 331 députés votent la censure du gouvernement de Michel Barnier, le premier ministre va remettre sa démission à Emmanuel Macron". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-04.

Other websites

Media related to Michel Barnier at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Michel Barnier at Wikiquote

• Michel Barnier – Head of EU Commission Taskforce for Brexit
• Personal Website at the European Commission (2010–2014)