PARIS (Reuters) – Listed below are particulars of the primary ministerial appointments after French President Emmanuel Macron’s workplace unveiled on Saturday the brand new cupboard that can report back to Prime Minister Michel Barnier:
ANTOINE ARMAND, FINANCE MINISTER
A relative newcomer to politics, Armand, 33, was first elected to parliament in 2022 on the centrist ticket of Macron’s camp and was re-elected in July’s snap legislative election.
Within the new parliament, he had been set to move the financial committee within the decrease home till Barnier tapped him for the highest job on the highly effective Ministry of Economics and Finance.
Armand isn’t any stranger to “Bercy” because the ministry is usually known as in France, having joined its elite corps of finance inspectors after graduating in 2018 from the celebrated Ecole Nationale d’Administration – a coaching faculty for future senior civil servants that Macron additionally attended.
He might be seconded by Laurent Saint-Martin on funds points, a fragile portfolio that can report on to the prime minister, as France struggles to include a rising funds deficit and contemplates spending cuts and tax hikes.
BRUNO RETAILLEAU, INTERIOR MINISTER
A conservative senator since 2004, Bruno Retailleau, 63, is thought for his hard-right views and is essentially the most senior determine from his Republicans (LR) celebration to enter Barnier’s authorities.
Retailleau was a driving drive behind the celebration’s shift to the fitting in an more and more polarised political panorama, particularly on hot-button points akin to immigration.
As chief of the conservative group of senators, Retailleau has criticised Macron’s newest makes an attempt to toughen immigration guidelines, calling for a a lot more durable stance that would come with constitutional modifications permitting welfare profit cuts.
He has additionally urged more durable policing on left-wing and environmental protesters and opposed Macron’s push so as to add the fitting for ladies to pursue an abortion to the structure.
JEAN-NOEL BARROT, FOREIGN MINISTER
Barrot, 41, is promoted to overseas minister after serving as junior minister for European affairs since February 2024. Earlier than that he was Macron’s minister for digital affairs.
Barrot comes from a household with a robust political background. His father, Jacques Barrot, was a outstanding French politician who served in varied ministerial positions and as a European commissioner.
He gives important political steadiness for the federal government, hailing from the centrist celebration of Francois Bayrou, the political veteran whose unbiased MoDem celebration Macron must carry on his aspect.
BENJAMIN HADDAD, EUROPE MINISTER
Haddad, 38, a fluent English-speaker with wonderful contacts in Washington, DC, the place he spent years working at a think-tank, was first elected to parliament in 2022 beneath Macron’s celebration colors.
He has been vocal on diplomatic points and particularly the battle in Ukraine, having satisfied tens of European lawmakers to signal a plea to the U.S. Congress to unlock help for Ukraine on the finish of 2023.
SEBASTIEN LECORNU, DEFENCE MINISTER
Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, stays in his publish on the helm of the Defence Ministry.
A low-profile minister who began his profession in conservative ranks, he was excluded from the Republicans after being named a junior minister in Macron’s authorities in 2017.
