#Michel Barnier

[fidjiefidjie]

Nouveau gouvernement 😁 🤣

Dessins de presse de Placide, Rodho, Chaunu, Goubelle, Man.

👋 Bel après-midi

[submissivegayfrenchboy2]

05 / 09 / 2024

This man is Michel Barnier, a former minister. Today, after more than 50 days without Prime Minister, President Emmanuel Macron named him the new Prime Minister of the French Republic.

He is very tall (1m90/6'2)

He is aged 73 and I'm sure a lot of people who likes (suited) (straight) (white) (rich) daddies will soon be into him. And you? 😁

@dadsinsuits

[older-is-better]

Michel Barnier.

[dadsinsuits]

Jean-Claude Juncker & Michel Barnier

[wolfsnape]

Donc notre nouveau premier ministre a voté contre la dépénalisation de l'homosexualité et contre le remboursement de l'IVG par la sécu

[clairikine]

Carte non-exhaustive des rassemblements prévus le samedi 7 septembre (liste non-exhaustive en version texte sur le site de la FI)

Sont également prévus actuellement à l'étranger (heures locales, liste qui sera complétée le cas échéant dans les reblogs):

Barcelone, 12h, Consulat de France

Berlin, 15h, Ambassade de France/Pariser Platz

Bogota, 13h, Ambassade de France

Buenos Aires, 14h, Ambassade de France

Cali, 11h, Consulat de France

Dublin, 15h, Ambassade de France

Fribourg, 11h, Platz der Alten Synagoge

Londres, 15h, Ambassade de France

Madrid, 12h, Consulat de France

Montréal, 14h, Consulat de France

Munich, 15h, Consulat de France

Vienne, 18h, Ambassade de France

[yougottabetheguy]

So French politics is a total mess right now.

But we need a tiny bit of backstory to fully understand why.

In 1944, France took back its' territories from invading armies. The 4th Republic was declared when De Gaulle stepped down as commander-in-chief-in-exile.

The 4th Republic tried to be parliamentary, but also incentivised coalitions, which constantly broke down. So there were massive political instabilities which came to a head in the Algerian war of independence in 1958. French soldiers, living in Algeria, threatened to invade the mainland if the head of government didn't give up peace talks with the Algerian rebels. So De Gaulle, the man who brought freedom back to France and fended off American imperialism post-WWII, was called on to solve the crisis.

He decided to form a new semi-presidential republic, that wouldn't be bogged down by giving excessive power to the elected assembly.

The President is directly elected for 5 years, and so is the lower house (Assembly). To be eligible to be president, you must have the support of at least 500 mayors or regional councillors over the entire country. (Yes, that does mean that the French people are asked to vote at least 5 times every 5 years: mayoral, regional, legislative (lower house), presidential, and European). The upper house, the Senate, is voted in indirectly by all representatives (mayors, councillors, Assembly members).

Phew.

But also, the Assembly can overturn the Presidency by a simple majority vote. And the President can, at any time, dissolve the Assembly.

This means, that since the legislative and presidential elections are very close to each other, that the presidential party/coalition has always had a majority in the Assembly, except for a few occasions. (I think Mitterrand didn't have one)

It's a presidential republic because the President has strong executive power, and can pass executive bills without the Assembly's approval: so called Article 49§3. Article 49§3 is meant to break parliamentary deadlock on critical issues, like national budgets, by forcing the Assembly to take action. The Assembly can overturn the President and block the bill by simple majority of registered Assembly members, not just those who turn up to the vote. So it is a political gamble. Mr Macron has used this to bully his party in the past: "Vote for my controversial retirement pension reform or vote me out and lose your seat."

But also, Mr Macron is a scheming, conniving bastard. He used the rise of the far right to his political gain: in 2017, he presented himself as a centrist. He was young, smart, an economist, hot, and had a wife with intrigue (they met when she was his French teacher in high school). And he won out against the far right. His party was founded in 2015, so no-one knew what to do with him.

But then, over the years, we slowly realised that he was financially liberal, socially centrist, and morally bankrupt. He was accused of putting his friends in power and generally being money grubbing. But his international appeal was pretty good.

So then he won again in 2022: hoping that the left wouldn't form a coalition (they did), that he could hold down the centre parties (he couldn't), and the far right wouldn't become larger (it did). But he still managed to get a slim majority. Thus heavy use of 49§3 to align his party.

All in all, the left were/are furious. Twice now, they did the political good deed of voting for the candidate they didn't really like to block the one they hate from getting in. So tensions were high.

Now in 2024, the far right win big in the European Elections. They get a sizeable share of french votes (mostly from low turnout by other parties). Macron decides to dissolve the Assembly 2 (?) days later.

Huh?? Why?? What?? Tf do we do now??

So now we have a legislative election in a month that no one saw coming. Everyone scrambles. The left form a coalition in 2 weeks, their manifesto cobbled together by sleepless nights. The right, once composed of 2-3 parties, has split, the vast majority of the traditional right now have joined the far right. The centre is gutted, save for Macron's party, who's effectively subsumed their voter demographic.

The legislative elections have a 2 round system: everyone votes for who they actually want in round 1 and settles in round 2.

It's chaos.

After round one, the left have a 30% hold on the country, the centre have 20%, and the far right have 35%.

Everyone realises that the far right have a real chance at winning a majority. Le Pen pushes her electorate as hard as she can: she doesn't just want to be the biggest party and get to form the government, she wants a majority and overturn the President.

The left choose to pull out of places that they aren't going to win to avoid diluting the vote. Days before the 2nd round, Macron has said nothing similar. A few days before, his message is simple: "We're not going to do anything. We won't pull out of races we might not win." It's a kick in the teeth for the left.

The end of the second round looks like this:

Purple is the left coalition, yellow is Macron, blue is traditional right, brown is far right.

With 182 seats, the left have the most, and should form the next government. Not by law, but by convention.

Macron has 168 seats, the far right have 143.

The majority is 289 seats. No one is close, but a coalition would work.

Unfortunately, that's a problem: since no government in the past 60 years has had to form a coalition, no one knows how, and aren't amenable to it in the first place.

But the left are ecstatic. They struggled so hard to unite, they defied all odds to challenge Macron, and now they have the institutional (but not legal) right to name a Prime Minister (head of the lower house).

This all happened before the Olympics. So Macron declares that there must be political unity during the Olympics. So everyone agrees and keeps quiet for a while.

Side note, Mr Macron has called himself the "God of Time" in private meetings, since he believes that he can dictate when things happen, putting off decisions and important meeting by leveraging the might of french bureaucracy at them. But that kind of tactic wears thin very quickly.

After the Olympics, and the fiasco that was, politics can start again. The left, after an awful lot of arguing and trial and error, name Lucie Castets as Prime Minister. She's smart, female, and merely socialist (as opposed to communist). The far right immediately oppose her, declaring that they would vote to overturn her as soon as she is sworn in. "Blah blah blah not strong not good too extreme".

So they try again. And again. Until Macron, who is the person who swears in the Prime Minister, invites potential candidates from different parties to his office. So now, somehow, Macron, who didn't win the majority of seats, is choosing the PM. He invites Hollande, Sarkozy, Mélenchon, Duflot, Cazeneuve, Bertrand, Castets to try and find a leader who might not be immediately overturned.

The left insist that any extreme right candidate will be overturned. The far right insist that any candidate with an inkling of leftism will be overturned. Macron's party stays quiet.

So we arrive at today: Michel Barnier is our new PM. He's right wing. He voted against decriminalising gays in the 80s.

His inauguration speech had catchphrases like: "Access to public services, security in daily life, and immigration control". He promises to establish a "German-style" cabinet, made up of ministers from all parties. But we'll see how that goes.

So...yeah...I love how the left got the most seats of all parties and is now completely out of government.

Macron _could_ have formed a left alliance and chosen to uphold french dignity. He _could_ have chosen an ex-centrist PM. He _could_ have chosen compromise, but instead bent the knee to the right because they're more vocal.

Maybe I'll update this as time goes by. Maybe I'll be too depressed to do so.

[dooareyastudy]

À votre avis barnier peut il faire avancer l’écologie? Et le modèle économique libéral de barnier et Macron peut il être compatible avec plus de dépenses pour les services publiques ? Pourquoi des médias comme le monde relaye cela ?

"Je parle notamment de cette vidéo de Le Monde : Quelles sont les idées politiques de Michel Barnier ? Comprendre en trois minutes. Qu’en pensez-vous vous de ce qu’y est dit ?"

"Michel Barnier a-t-il fait des choses importantes dans sa carrière pour le social et les services publics comme le disent les médias ?"

Plusieurs questions qui tournent autour d'un même thème, je fais une réponse groupée qui laisse toutefois de côté certains éléments de vos questions donc n'hésitez pas à rebondir à partir de ma réponse.

Michel Barnier est un pur politicien si on peut dire, il a un énorme parcours politique donc il a du faire du bien comme du critiquable au cours de sa très (trop) longue carrière. Il serait intéressant de comparer ses prises de position avec les positions du parti auquel il appartenait, pour déterminer si c’était un élu qui respectait les consignes de son parti ou s’il faisait parfois preuve de dissidence (et il faudrait voir s’il adoptait plus souvent une position plus progressiste ou non que son parti). Mais je n’ai pas le temps de faire ça actuellement, donc on s’en tiendra à quelques moments clés du parcours de Barnier. Le matériel source est bien évidemment la page wikipédia du concerné.

En ce qui concerne l’écologie :

Il a eu un ministère de l’écologie en 1993, à la tête duquel il a notamment porté la loi n° 95-101 du 2 février 1995 relative au renforcement de la protection de l'environnement. Celle-ci va notamment inscrire le principe de précaution dans le droit interne : peut-être témoin de l’engagement de Barnier en faveur de l’écologie, c’est surtout la nécessaire traduction en interne du principe de précaution adopté dans le cadre de l’UE en 1992.

Notons aussi la « taxe Barnier », qui taxe les entreprises de transport maritime sur les passagers embarqués à destination d’espaces naturels protégés (en sont bénéficiaires les gestionnaires des parcs nationaux, des réserves naturelles etc. – elle ne rapporte pas grand-chose, mais c’est toujours ça).

S’il faut bien lui mettre ces mesures à son actif, notons que par rapport à sa très longue carrière, son engagement en faveur de l’écologie (au moins au niveau national – peut-être son engagement au niveau local me ferait mentir) reste très limité, peu ambitieux et surtout, il date. A la tête du ministère de l’environnement, on peut penser que son bilan est vraiment le strict minimum de ce qu’on pourrait faire. Ainsi, dire qu’il a « un intérêt constant pour l’écologie » (je cite la vidéo mentionnée dans la question) me semble assez exagéré.

En ce qui concerne le social :

On peut relever plusieurs moments importants de la carrière de Barnier. En 1981, il vote en faveur de l’abolition de la peine de mort (grand seigneur – peu d’élus de droite été étaient favorables). La même année, il vote contre la dépénalisation des relations homosexuelles entre personnes de plus de 15 ans (donc y compris entre adultes consentants...). L’année suivante, il vote contre le projet de remboursement de l’IVG par la Sécurité sociale. Pas grand-chose de très récent donc, ni de très surprenant pour un élu de droite.

Plus récemment, on peut mentionner sa proposition (après l’annonce de sa candidature à la dernière présidentielle) de mettre en place un moratoire de trois à cinq ans sur l’immigration dans l’Union européenne (hors étudiants et demandeurs d’asile), soi-disant pour « pouvoir étudier les problèmes liés à l’immigration en France » (comme si empêcher les gens d’arriver en France changeait fondamentalement la donne pour l’étude des problèmes). Par la suite, il est d’ailleurs revenu sur cette proposition : pour proposer de réduire y compris l’accueil des étudiants étrangers !

Mentionnons surtout son programme pour la dernière présidentielle qui va vous montrer que la préoccupation de Barnier, ce n’est ni l’écologie, ni les services publics. Voici ses propositions phares :

Baisse des taxes pour les entreprises françaises

Baisse des cotisations sur les salaires moyens et suppression des charges pendant 3 ans pour le premier emploi d’un jeune 

Augmentation de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite de 62 à 65 ans (on est à deux doigts de féliciter Macron d’avoir repoussé uniquement à 64 ans)

Revenir sur les 35 heures hebdomadaires (si si, à l’époque où certains pays expérimentent la semaine de 4 jours)

Instauration d’une aide sociale unique en lieu et place des aides sociales actuelles et conditionnée à une disponibilité du bénéficiaire, notamment pour « effectuer des activités utiles à la collectivité ou en entreprise »

En somme, un programme de droite et très Macron-compatible. D’ailleurs, il faut relever la proximité qui existait déjà entre Barnier et Macron (et son entourage) : soutien de Bruno Le Maire pour la primaire française de la droite et du centre en 2016 ; pressenti par le camp présidentiel pour la présidence de la Commission européenne en 2019…

Tout cela n’est donc pas très fameux comme bilan, à mon humble avis. S’il se définit comme « gaulliste social », je peine à voir comment s’est exprimé son engagement en faveur des classes moyennes et des services publics, d’autant plus quand il défend au contraire un programme de « baisse des charges » dont on sait qu’une telle baisse des cotisations sociales ne peut se traduire que par une remise en cause des droits sociaux des personnes.

La vidéo mentionnée dans la question rappelle bien que dans ses dernières prises de position, on peut voir un « durcissement » dans ses propositions mais c’est peut-être aussi simplement que, très occupé par la question européenne, il ne prenait pas trop position sur ces autres questions.

Mais en même temps, si les gens de droite étaient de gauche, ça se saurait !

[riderofthemist]

We have a new government. Finally. Ah. Ah.

[dadsinsuits]

Michel Barnier

[wolfsnape]

Ca valait le coup de voter pour qu'au final on nous refourgue une antiquité droitarde qui a été ministre sous Mitterand

[head-post]

Macron urges to “rethink” ties with Russia, new government under pressure

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that it would be crucial to reassess Europe’s relationship with Russia after the war in Ukraine, while the French government faces pressure from the opposition.

Macron made the comments during a peaceful gathering hosted by the Community of Sant’Egidio in Paris on Sunday.

We will have to think about a new form of organisation of Europe and rethink our relations with Russia after the war in Ukraine. This is undoubtedly the greatest challenge of our time, because our current order is incomplete and unjust. It is incomplete because it was conceived at the end of World War II, and therefore did not have in its heart the problems that later emerged and became dominant.

He also noted that “most countries on this planet and many of the most populous countries did not exist when the seats were allocated”. He therefore called for a rethinking of the world order.

Meanwhile, the new government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier is facing pressure from opposition politicians on both sides of the political spectrum amid growing threats of a vote of no confidence in parliament. Barnier is due to present a budget plan for 2025 that takes into account what he called the country’s “very serious” financial situation.

The long wait for a functioning government ended late Saturday night, 11 weeks after Macron called an early general election. Left-wing opposition politicians have already said they will challenge Barnier’s government with a vote of no confidence, with national-oriented politicians also criticising its composition.

Macron argued that the left could not muster enough support to form a government that would not be immediately overthrown by parliament, and rejected the National Rally candidate due to the party’s alleged extremist heritage. Instead, he turned to Barnier to lead the government, relying mainly on parliamentary support from allies.

Shaky government

Negotiations over the allocation of 39 cabinet posts continued until the official announcement on Saturday, insiders said, with moments of sharp tension between the president and his prime minister.

Leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called the new line-up “a government of the general election losers.” France, he said, should “get rid” of the government “as soon as possible.” On Monday, he responded to accusations against him on X:

On Tuesday, September 24, I have to go and respond to a complaint for insult filed by a Macron minister about my reaction to a banned conference in Lille. On Friday, a Marseille lawyer proclaims herself a “Zionist” and threatens to kill two MPs on a restaurant terrace by exploding their cell phones! Which prosecutor will react? Yet how many people like Rima Hassan and Mathilde Panot have been summoned by the courts for “apology for terrorism”? Is there a difference? Of course. None of them have threatened to kill anyone. So? And the Marseille bar? Silence. Surprising, isn’t it?

Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday in a left-wing protest to denounce what they called the results of July’s election. Socialist Party chairman Olivier Faure called Barnier’s cabinet “a reactionary government that gives democracy the finger.”

Although Macron’s Renaissance party had to abandon some key positions, it still won a majority of 12 ministerial posts out of 39. However, former French President Francois Hollande called the cabinet “the same as before, but with an even stronger presence of the right.”

A vote of no confidence requires an absolute majority in parliament, which would then force the government to resign immediately. However, this is currently an unlikely scenario, as the right and the left, sworn enemies, would have to vote unanimously.

Read more HERE

[warningsine]

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Veteran politician Michel Barnie as prime minister on Thursday, September 5, after almost two months of deadlock following legislative elections that produced no clear majority in Parliament.

At 73, Barnier is the oldest premier in the history of modern France and has been tasked with forming "a unifying government in the service of the country," the presidency said in a statement. In a striking contrast, the former foreign minister succeeds Gabriel Attal, 35, a man less than half his age and who served only eight months in office.

A right-wing former minister and European commissioner, Barnier was the European Union's negotiator on Brexit. He has been all but invisible in French political life since failing to win his party's nomination to challenge Macron for the presidency in 2022.

France had been without a permanent government since the July 7 polls, in which the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron's centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups. Amid the political deadlock Macron, who has less than three years of his term remaining, ran down the clock as the Olympics and Paralympics took place in Paris, to the growing frustration of opponents.

Radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared the "election has been stolen," after Barnier's appointment was announced. "It's not the Nouveau Front Populaire, which came out on top in the [legislative] elections, that will have the prime minister and the responsibility of standing before the deputies," reacted the La France Insoumise leader on his YouTube channel on Thursday.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure decried the decision as the beginning of "a regime crisis" in a post on X. "The democratic denial has reached its apogee: a prime minister from the party that came fourth and didn't even take part in the republican front [against the far right]. We're entering a regime crisis."

Macron's centrist faction and the far right make up the two other major groups in the Assemblée Nationale, finishing second and third respectively.

Far right to judge 'on evidence'

Conservative ex-minister Xavier Bertrand and former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve had been seen as favorites in recent days. But both figures fell by the wayside with the mathematics of France's new parliament stacked against them. Both risked facing a no-confidence motion that could garner support from both the left bloc and the far right.

Macron appears to be counting on the far-right Rassemblement National of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen not to block the appointment of Barnier. "We will wait to see Mr Barnier's policy speech" to parliament, said Le Pen, the leader in parliament of the RN, the party that holds the most seats in the lower house following July snap polls. RN party leader Jordan Bardella said Barnier would be judged "on evidence" when he addresses parliament.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier countered: "We know in the end who decides. Her name is Marine Le Pen. She is the one to whom Macron has decided to submit."

Record-length caretaker government

Never in the history of the Fifth Republic – which began with constitutional reform in 1958 – had France gone so long without a permanent government, leaving the previous administration led by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in place as caretakers.

To the fury of the left, Macron refused to accept the nomination of a left-wing premier, arguing such a figure would have no chance of surviving a confidence motion in parliament. France's left-wing New Popular Front alliance had demanded that the president pick their candidate Lucie Castets, a 37-year-old economist and civil servant with a history of left-wing activism.

The new prime minister will face the most delicate of tasks in seeking to agree legislation in a highly polarised Assemblée Nationale at a time of immense challenges. An October 1 deadline is now looming for the new government to file a draft budget law for 2025. With debts piling up to 110% of annual output, France has this year suffered a credit rating cut from Standard and Poor's and been told off by the European Commission for excessive deficits.

Barnier's "task looks tough, but difficulty has never scared him," said former prime minister Edouard Philippe, who earlier this week announced he would seek to succeed Macron in the next presidential election. Speaking to Le Figaro and using rugby parlance, Attal expressed hope his successor could "convert the try" of the policies whose implementation he could not complete during his time in office.

[allthegeopolitics]

New French Prime Minister Michel Barnier says he will defend some of President Emmanuel Macron’s policies and toughen the government’s stance on immigration. In his first interview since his nomination, Barnier said on Friday that his government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, will include conservatives as well as members of Macron’s camp. Members from other groups, including the left, are also welcome to back the new government, he said. “There is no red line,” Barnier said, adding: “We need to open the door … to all those who want it.”

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