{"id":414190,"date":"2024-12-13T19:04:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T18:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/12\/13\/francia-francois-bayrou-nuovo-governo\/"},"modified":"2024-12-16T20:04:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T19:04:37","slug":"macron-appoints-francois-bayrou-to-form-new-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/12\/13\/macron-appoints-francois-bayrou-to-form-new-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Macron appoints Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou to form new government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – France finally has a new prime minister<\/strong>. After a whole\u00a0week of frantic negotiations with parliamentary forces<\/strong> (and after repeatedly exceeding the deadlines he set for the final decision), the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron<\/strong> nominated liberal ally Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou<\/strong> to succeed Michel Barnier<\/strong>\u2014who was challenged by the Assembl\u00e9e nationale<\/i> last December 4 in a historic vote\u2014at the head the transalpine executive.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0meagre communiqu\u00e9<\/a> published on the Elys\u00e9e Palace website very early this afternoon (Dec. 13) puts an end to days-long speculation about who would replace the former EU negotiator for Brexit at the helm of the Palais Matignon<\/strong>, the executive headquarters in Paris. Late in the morning, some news rumours reported that Macron would have been more inclined to entrust the government’s leadership to Roland Lescure<\/strong>,\u00a0his party colleague. Still, he would have retraced his steps after Bayrou’s threat to withdraw the support of his parliamentary group<\/strong>. This morning’s face-to-face meeting between the two, which ended with Bayrou taking office, lasted nearly two hours.<\/p>\n

Who is Bayrou<\/h3>\n

The 73-year-old is the founder and leader of the liberal Mouvement d\u00e9mocrate<\/i> (MoDem)<\/strong> party, whose 36 deputies are part of the centrist Ensemble pour la<\/i> R\u00e9publique<\/em><\/strong> coalition, which holds a total of 166 seats out of the 575 total in the Parliament. In politics since the 1980s, Bayrou has held several public roles: national parliamentarian<\/strong> between 1986 and 2012, European MP<\/strong> from 1999 to 2002, and minister<\/strong> (first between 1993 and 1997 and most recently, for only one month, in 2017, as\u00a0Justice Minister in the government of \u00c9douard Philippe<\/strong>, the first of the Macronist era), as well as a three-time presidential candidate<\/strong> (in 2002, 2007, and 2012). Since 2014, he has been the\u00a0mayor of Pau<\/strong>, a city in the Atlantic Pyrenees in the New Aquitaine region.<\/p>\n

\"Barnier<\/a>
New Prime Minister Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou (right) takes office from outgoing Prime Minister Michel Barnier at the Palais Matignon, Paris, 13 December 2024 (photo: Thomas Samson\/AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is considered\u00a0<\/span>one of the closest\u00a0 Macron’s allies,<\/strong>\u00a0at least since 2017, when he supported the latter’s bid for the Elys\u00e9e, although the two have<\/span>\u00a0not always agreed\u00a0<\/a>on everything.<\/span>\u00a0In June 2022, for example, Bayrou had distanced himself from the head of state’s proposal to insert freedom of access to abortion into the Constitution<\/strong>, while in early 2023, he had suggested introducing a review clause in the highly contested pension reform<\/strong> sought by Macron. Last June, the new premier described as “courageous” the decision to dissolve parliament to call early elections.<\/p>\n

What happens now<\/h3>\n

Bayrou will now have to form his team of ministers, which, according to French media, is expected to be rather small. The new executive’s most important task will be to present to the bicameral legislature the draft budget for 2025, which\u00a0has already been drafted<\/a> by the outgoing government and is not expected to include significant changes from the allocations already planned for the current year. The Assembly is expected to consider the budget on\u00a0Dec. 16, while the Senate should\u00a0vote on the text two days later.<\/p>\n

The most delicate passage is likely to be, once again, the indexing of pensions and income taxes to inflation<\/b>, demanded by several parliamentary forces: a scheme, however, that the Macronists reject and that the Council of\u00a0State\u00a0would<\/a><\/span>\u00a0have rejected<\/a>\u200b<\/span><\/a> sanctioning the impossibility of including it in the budget<\/b>.\u00a0The radical left-wing of\u00a0<\/span>La France insoumise\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(LFI)<\/strong>, led by\u00a0<\/span>Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon<\/strong>, has already announced that it will oppose the new government, threatening to present as soon as possible a\u00a0<\/span>censure motion<\/strong>\u00a0like the one that<\/span>\u00a0brought down\u00a0<\/a>Barnier last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After eight\u00a0days of vaudeville, Bayrou is named Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

It’s yet another insult to democracy. After losing all the last elections, Macron installs his first and last supporter at Matignon.<\/p>\n

Bringing down Bayrou means bringing down Macron….<\/p>\n

– Manuel Bompard (@mbompard) December 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But on the other end of the political spectrum, the Rassemblement National<\/i> (RN)<\/strong>\u00a0sits on the fence. At least for the time being, it seems willing to\u00a0open a credit to Bayrou<\/strong>: “We will give him a chance, as we did with Michel Barnier,” said far-right MP\u00a0Philippe Ballard<\/strong>. At\u00a0the same time,<\/span>\u00a0Marine Le Pen<\/strong> announced<\/a> to expect “the new prime minister to listen to the demands of our 11 million voters.”<\/p>\n

Based on statements in the last few hours, the Socialists (PS-PL)<\/strong> should support Bayrou’s government<\/strong>, as should, in addition to the Ensemble<\/i> deputies, the R\u00e9publicains <\/i>(LR)<\/strong>, that is, the neo-Gollist conservatives from which Barnier comes. If ecologists and communists<\/strong>\u2014the other components of the Nouveau front populaire <\/i>(NFP)<\/strong>, the alliance of leftists that makes up the largest of the three main blocs into which the transalpine hemicycle is split\u2014will not be in favour of censure, the Bayrou executive should succeed in getting the Parliament’s investiture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Brussels greets the nomination<\/h3>\n

The appointment of a prime minister by the Elys\u00e9e Palace’s tenant would appear to have temporarily ended one of the deepest political crises of the Cinqui\u00e8me R\u00e9publique<\/i><\/strong>, which began with the d\u00e9b\u00e2cle<\/i> of the liberal coalition at the Europeans last June. European partners and international markets are jittery over\u00a0the\u00a0unprecedented instability in French politics<\/strong>\u00a0and heaved<\/span>\u00a0a sigh of relief after today’s announcement.\u00a0The chairwoman of the EU executive,\u00a0<\/span>Ursula von der Leyen,<\/strong>\u00a0congratulated<\/a>\u00a0Bayrou, recalling that he has “always had Europe at heart” and declaring herself ready to “<\/span>work together for a stronger and more competitive Europe<\/strong>\u00a0that has the means to defend itself.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ursula<\/a>
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (photo: Eitan Abramovich\/AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Italian MEP Sandro Gozi<\/b>\u2014elected in France to the EU Parliament on\u00a0the lists of the European Democratic Party (PDE)<\/b>, founded and chaired by Bayrou himself and a member of the Renew Liberal Group\u2014Macron’s choice is “wise and far-sighted” since the new premier ministre<\/i> “has shown himself to be a man of dialogue, balance, and vision<\/b>, qualities that are now more indispensable than ever to meet\u00a0the complex challenges facing France.” According to Gozi, Bayrou “will know how to foster collaboration between different alignments<\/b>, promoting cohesion and unity” in an Assembly that has never been so fragmented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After more than a week of deep political crisis, the French president appointed the 73-year-old Liberal leader to succeed resigning premier Michel Barnier and take office in Matignon. Now, once parliamentary confidence is gained, the new executive will have to get the House to approve the 2025 budget plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":413948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[26261,26260,30015,28462,26583],"class_list":["post-414190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-emmanuel-macron-en","tag-francois-bayrou-en","tag-jean-luc-melenchon-en","tag-marine-le-pen-en-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414190"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":414195,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414190\/revisions\/414195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}