Key facts on Michel Barnier, France's new prime minister

An emergency meeting of French conservative party Les Republicains in Paris

FILE PHOTO: Michel Barnier of the French conservative party Les Republicains (The Republicans - LR) arrives to attend an emergency meeting called by LR party chiefs in Paris, following their leader Eric Ciotti's decision to form an alliance between his party's candidates and the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) in a snap parliamentary election, France, June 12, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo

Source: REUTERS

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed the European Union's former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as his new prime minister on Thursday in a bid to end political paralysis following an inconclusive snap election.

Here are a few key facts about Barnier:

* 1951 - Born Jan. 9 in La Tronche, a suburb of the French Alpine city of Grenoble.

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* 1978 - Elected to parliament aged 27, representing the Gaullist, centre-right Savoie district.

* 1992 - Co-organiser of Winter Olympics held at Albertville in his constituency, an event still central to his public image.

* 1993-95 - Environment minister.

* 1995-97 - France's Europe minister.

* 1999-2004 - EU regional policy commissioner, responsible for grants and subsidies accounting for a third of Union's budget.

* 2004-05 - Foreign minister.

* 2007-09 - Agriculture minister.

* 2009-10 - EU lawmaker.

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* 2010-14 - EU commissioner for internal market and services. Negotiated extensive new regulation of financial markets after the global crash, including reforms unpopular in the City of London.

* 2016 - Named EU's Brexit negotiator after Britain's referendum on leaving the bloc.

* 2021 - Failed in a bid to get his conservative party's nomination for the 2022 presidential election.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters