French Prime Minister Michel Barnier unveiled the country’s new government Saturday, seeking to end months of political uncertainty, if not the accompanying acrimony.
Barnier’s newly named cabinet marks a tilt to the right and will need to maintain enough support across France’s National Assembly to avoid being dissolved with a no-confidence vote. Members of the left-wing alliance that won the most seats in July’s legislative elections — and led the effort to keep the far right out of power — objected that the slate of ministers was undemocratic, representing the election’s losers.
France has had only an acting government since July’s snap elections concluded with no bloc of parties securing a governing majority of seats. The prolonged uncertainty left France rudderless. The country has been unable to advance a 2025 budget or move to address a ballooning budget deficit. The interregnum has also allowed animosities to fester.
French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Barnier this month, saying the veteran French politician — who was also the European Union’s Brexit negotiator — had the best chance to reestablish political stability.
“A team! And now, to work!” Barnier posted Saturday after the French president appointed the new cabinet.
Two weeks of talks with the various blocs have resulted in the naming of 39 ministers. At the core are 17 senior cabinet members, who together form a predominantly center-right government: Seven cabinet ministers are from Macron’s centrist movement, which finished second in the election, and three are from Barnier’s right-wing Republicans, which finished a distant fourth.
None of the ministers represent Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, which placed third. But also excluded are representatives of the left-wing alliance New Popular Front, which placed first.
Deep divisions could jeopardize the government’s survival on the long run, analysts said, as officials from the far left and the far right threaten to topple it.
With Macron allies in key posts and making up the fundamental part of the cabinet, “Macron’s influence will certainly still be felt across this government,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group consultancy.
Left-wing parties, along with student and activist groups, protested ahead of the announcement Saturday in several French cities against the direction of the new cabinet.
Socialist lawmakers described the appointment as a “reshuffle” rather than a new government, saying it ignored voter preferences for the left.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise which is the biggest party in the broad-ranging alliance, said the cabinet has “no legitimacy and no future.”
Barnier’s efforts to form a coalition that included alliance figures were rebuffed by the left, which argued that the election results should translate to more power than was offered, and by the far right, which also threatened to bring down the government.
Barnier could get by without the support of lawmakers on the left. He has backing from the centrist and conservative camps. But to make the math work, and avoid a censure vote that would topple the government before it even got started, Barnier needed at least the tacit approval of National Rally.
On Saturday, the party’s president and Le Pen’s young protégé, Jordan Bardella, was quick to say the new government would have “no future,” calling it a “return to Macronism through a back door.”
Le Pen told Le Parisien this week that she was confident Barnier would respect her party’s criteria and leave out certain politicians, but added a forward-looking warning. “The fact that we didn’t put forward a prior vote of censure does not deprive us of the possibility,” she said.
This is the first time Le Pen’s party has held so much sway over government talks, analysts say.
The threats from her party highlighted the vulnerability of the new government. “It can be brought down at any moment depending on the winds of Marine Le Pen,” Rahman said.
With the left opposed to the new cabinet, Barnier’s government could fall if the far-right party chooses to add its votes to a no-confidence motion.
“For now, I suspect they’ll let the government run,” Rahman said, adding that “at some point, Le Pen’s calculations may change.” He said the threats from her camp appeared intended “to keep Barnier’s government on its toes and to extract concessions in the coming fight over the budget for 2025, which will be critical to whether his government survives.”
Barnier has said its first priority is to address France’s “very serious” budget situation.
The country is trying to rebalance after spending generously to shield the economy during the pandemic and to protect households from soaring energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has also increased defense spending in the face of the Russian threat.
France is on notice for violating E.U. budget rules. Its deficit last year amounted to 154 billion euros ($172 billion), which was 5.5 percent of gross domestic product — above the E.U.’s 3 percent guideline and the second highest in the bloc, after Italy.
Tens of billions of euros from the annual budget go to paying interest on the country’s debt, which stands at about 3 trillion euros. France’s debt to GDP ratio is more than 110 percent — the third-highest ratio in Europe after Greece and Italy.
Saturday’s announcement brings new faces to key posts such as the economy and foreign ministries, while Sébastien LeCornu — the defense minister and a Macron ally — remains in the new government.
In what was seen as a win for the right, Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative and immigration hard-liner from Barnier’s party, becomes interior minister, overseeing law enforcement and security.
A lawmaker from Macron’s party, Antoine Armand, takes the job of economy and finance minister, and Jean-Noël Barrot, a centrist politician who was previously junior minister for European affairs, is now foreign minister.
