Michel Barnier, a Mirror Image of Emmanuel Macron

Eight weeks after the second round of the French legislative elections, on Sept. 5, French President Emmanuel Macron finally nominated Michel Barnier as his Prime Minister. A member of “The Republicans” party, Barnier has been involved in local, national and European policies since 1973. He was Foreign Affairs Minister under Jacques Chirac, and twice held the position of European Commissioner, before being named to head the team negotiating the Brexit for the European Union.

Clearly, Michel Barnier is a europeanist and a liberal, in line with Macron’s policies, and might be useful in the coming negotiations between France and the EU Commission, to deal with France’s excessive deficit procedure.

In different statements, Jacques Cheminade, president of Solidarité & Progrès, minced no words on Barnier’s political orientations. “Barnier is a nondescript, humorless man who prefers the salons of power to the will of the people. He participated in the betrayal of the May 29, 2005 vote against the European Constitution. He organized for the ‘yes’ vote, and when the ‘no’ passed, he and others in the Amato group put in place the Lisbon Treaty which, with a few amendments, incorporated the essence of the European Constitutional Treaty, betraying the will of the French people.

“Barnier is dangerous, because we are at a moment in history when Europe has bowed down to Atlanticist policies, to NATO policy, and when peace is threatened in the world. Beneath his airs of a man of the world, he is dangerous, because he represents this allegiance to the NATO system and to the Europe of the European Union. Barnier also hopes to get the support of the National Rally (RN), because he’s very tough on immigration and seems to share the RN’s wish to introduce an element of proportional representation in the French majority vote system.”

Indeed, in a “surprise move”, the RN decided it would not vote against Barnier’s nomination, even though it could have blocked his candidacy. Rumor has it that Emmanuel Macron first called Marine Le Pen to check her position, although she denies that. She clarified that she would support Barnier on the condition that he respect the will of citizens who voted for her party, as much as he respects that of the other voters. She is convinced that Barnier will fulfill that condition, but warned that “We won’t give them a blank check. If, as the weeks go by, the French should once again be forgotten or mistreated, we will not hesitate to cast a vote of no confidence in the government.” So, bizarrely enough, the Damocles sword hanging over the head of the Macron presidency and of his new Prime Minister, is held by none other than Marine Le Pen!

The new government will also be under attack from the left. On Sept. 7, left-wing organizations and parties held demonstrations against President Macron and his “coup de force” in naming a conservative to head the government. Up to 300,000 Frenchmen, according to the organizers, joined the protest actions.