The Old-New French Government Leaves People Shaking Their Heads in Disbelief

That poses huge problems for President Emmanuel Macron, in office until 2027 but increasingly unpopular and presiding over a country that’s beginning to look ungovernable. It’s also a worry for the European Union, whose second-largest economy — one that has traditionally driven the bloc forward — is at a virtual standstill.

The main difficulty is that Bayrou’s government, which he announced on Monday, looks a lot like that of his predecessor, Michel Barnier. It has mostly centrist and conservative lawmakers in key roles, even though the sum of its opposing forces — Marine Le Pen’s far right and a pan-leftwing alliance called the New Popular Front — make up a majority in parliament.

Barnier’s administration lost a no-confidence vote less than three months after being appointed. Based on the first reactions from opposition leaders, there’s no guarantee France’s new management will last any longer.

Olivier Faure, leader of the center-left Socialist Party, described the new government as “a provocation,” with “the hard right in power under the watchful eye of the extreme right.” The president of the far-right National Rally, Jordan Bardella, slammed the new government as ridiculous, saying Bayrou “put together the coalition of failure.”

Financial storm

Bayrou’s mission was never going to be easy. After all, since Barnier’s removal, the political situation hasn’t changed.

First, there’s the bitterly divided state of French politics. Macron’s haphazard decision to call a snap election in the summer led to a hung parliament made up of three nearly equal blocs that oppose each other — making it impossible to build a majority.

Then there’s the need to pass a long-overdue budget for 2025 despite this fragmentation. France is under pressure to cut its massive deficit ― the difference between how much a government spends and how much it brings in ―  which this year reached 6.2 percent of the country’s GDP, twice the level permitted under EU rules.

For the role of economy and finance minister Bayrou has chosen a banker, Eric Lombard, who worked for BNP Paribas and directed insurance giant Generali before being nominated to lead the powerful Caisse des dépôts et consignations, the investment arm of the French state. He will work with Minister Amélie de Montchalin, from Macron’s camp, who will specifically be in charge of the budget.

Barnier’s fall also meant the rejection of his 2025 budget, leaving France without a budget law just days before an end-of-year deadline.

The outgoing government passed a stopgap budget, which effectively carries over the 2024 budget to 2025 to prevent a U.S.-style shutdown in January, but does nothing to reduce France’s deficit.

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The National Rally has indicated it won’t immediately seek to topple the government, preferring to wait for the budget debates. However, Le Pen’s party made similar promises to Barnier before ultimately turning on him, even after securing concessions.

Bayrou may still have options. He has long championed proportional representation, a reform backed by both the National Rally and the left. His party, the MoDem, has also shown openness to windfall taxes on large corporations, a popular opposition demand.

Still, his tenure so far has been marred by missteps and controversy rather than coalition-building. An Ifop poll released Sunday shows him as the most unpopular prime minister at this stage, giving the opposition little reason to support him.

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Elisabeth Borne, Manuel Valls, Bruno Retailleau

AFP via LE SOIR

On Monday, the secretary general of the Elysee Alexis Kohler announced the new French government. Francois Bayrou will be surrounded by Elisabeth Borne and Manuel Valls.

Two former prime ministers, Elisabeth Borne and Manuel Valls, a right-wing Retailleau-Darmanin tandem in the Interior and Justice, and Francois Rebsamen and Juliette Meadel for the left wing: the government of Francois Bayrou was announced Monday, expected firmly in an Assembly without a majority.

The new prime minister had long claimed his ability to appoint a broad-based government, right and left. Unsurprisingly, the team announced Monday does not include any member of the alliance of left New Popular Front (NFP).

The team of 35 members, including 18 women, includes four ministers of State, including two former tenants of Matignon : Elisabeth Borne takes charge of the National Education, while Manuel Valls inherits the explosive dossier of the Overseas Departments, with as an emergency the situation in Mayotte and New Caledonia, and with rank of number 3 of the government.

Three months after his departure from the Interior ministry, Gerald Darmanin also returns to the government, with him also rank of Minister of STATE: he inherits Justice, a post initially proposed to Xavier Bertrand, who announced shortly before the’ announcement of the government that he refused to integrate a team composed « with the endorsement of Marine Le Pen ».

Mr. Darmanin, who looked at Foreign Affairs, will act in tandem with Bruno Retailleau, reinforced Place Beauvau with the rank of Minister of State.

New entrants

Among the new entrants, Eric Lombard, general director of the Caisse des depots, is appointed Minister of Economics. Francois Rebsamen, former minister of Francois Hollande who has provided critical support to Emmanuel Macron since 2002, inherits the Regional planning and decentralization.

Another ex-PS, Juliette Meadel was appointed deputy minister in charge of the city.

The Bayrou government also includes 19 reappointed ministers, including Sebastien Lecornu (Defense), Jean-Noel Barrot (Foreign Affairs), Annie Genevard (Agriculture) and Rachida Dati (Culture), Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet (Labor and Employment) and Valerie Letard (Housing).

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Featured image source: https://x.com/sistadunet/status/1871261044879872472

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