Reports say that more than 100,000 people protested across France on Saturday against the appointment of Michel Barnier—a long-time member of the Brussels elite—as the new prime minister.
The figure falls short of the mass “mobilisation” called for by leading figures on the Left, who described the appointment as contrary to the mandate established in July’s legislative elections (which delivered a hung parliament), and who insist that this weekend’s protests have been underplayed.
But it is still indicative of a nationwide dissatisfaction with Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint the Eurocrat, which is also backed by polling conducted just after the appointment, which suggested that 74% of French people considered the president to have disregarded the election results.
The Right hasn’t exactly been all-welcoming, either, as The European Conservative’s Hélène de Lauzun highlighted on Friday:
Some voices are being raised to criticise the continued positioning of a man at the service of the European institutions and the destruction of French sovereignty.
Indeed, Barnier is perhaps best known for holding various positions in the European Commission, and for his role as the European Union’s former chief Brexit negotiator. After he noted that while “I don’t have much in common with the ideologies of the National Rally … I [do] respect it,” Marine Le Pen suggested that she is willing to give the new prime minister a chance: “We will judge him on actions.”
Le Pen added that “it would be unreasonable to vote against [Barnier] until he has set out his policies in detail,” clearly hoping that he will lean more to the Right on key issues like immigration.
For his part, Barnier admitted over the weekend that “I am under the surveillance of all French people,” obviously fearful of the prospect of an early no-confidence vote.
Barnier’s major role in Brexit negotiations—during which time then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he “completely underestimate[d]” the role of mass immigration—means the appointment has also been subject to much scrutiny in the UK.
Leading officials have been expectedly diplomatic and polite, while figures on the Right blasted him as “an EU fanatic” and said he is “no friend of the UK.” This means fears are now emerging that if Barnier does hold onto his role as PM, newly installed UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will use him to pull Britain closer to the EU.
