PARIS – Former Brexit negotiator and European Commissioner Michel Barnier has been appointed As the next Prime Minister of France.
But France already has Emmanuel Macron as its president. So what exactly does the French Prime Minister do?
Who is in power?
Unlike the United Kingdom and Italy, where the prime minister is both nominally head of government and clearly runs the show, things are more complicated in France.
Both the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic hold executive power in the French political system. But there is a reason why the names and faces of French presidents are famous around the world while the profile of French prime ministers usually does not extend beyond the country’s borders.
The Prime Minister and his ministers are in charge of day-to-day politics, introducing and implementing laws in Parliament. It is up to the Prime Minister, not the President, to defend the government’s priorities in Parliament, compromise with other political forces and resolve potential differences between ministries.
The president, who is directly elected, has more big-picture responsibilities: he usually represents France on the international stage, presides over ministerial meetings, heads the French military. He also has the power to dissolve parliament, sign government decrees and appoint a prime minister.
In this A “two-headed” systemAs constitutionalists sometimes call it, the balance of power between the president and prime minister changes depending on the broader context of French politics at any given time and who actually holds each office—especially if they are not from the same political camp.
But who really decides?
If the President and Prime Minister are allies, the President has a larger role and the Prime Minister is a loyal soldier responsible for implementing the legislative agenda. That was, for instance, the case under the outgoing government led by Macron’s long-time student, Gabriel Etel.
Things work very differently when there is a President and a Prime Minister There are political opponentsA situation in France known as cohabitationIn which the president is obliged to appoint a rival as prime minister if his party loses the legislative elections.
In that case, the Prime Minister could exercise his powers to the full, with the President being assigned an almost honorary role, except for foreign and military duties.
cohabitation It is not unprecedented that France has been subjugated three times since the birth of the Fifth Republic in 1958. Conservative Prime Ministers Jacques Chirac and Edouard Balladur worked with Socialist President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s, while Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin worked with him. Chirac as president from 1997 to 2002.
Wait, so Barnier is calling the shots now?
Not really. It is even more complicated this time: in the former cohabitationThe Prime Minister always had an absolute majority in Parliament.
But France’s National Assembly has been fractured by Macron’s decision to dissolve parliament and call snap elections this summer. The left-wing New Popular Front Alliance won the most seats but no opposition party won an outright majority, leaving A hung parliament with three major factions.
The New Popular Front claimed that its victory gave it the right to field a candidate for Prime Minister and 37-year-old civil servant Lucy Cassetts for the post. Macron, however, refused to nominate her, arguing that she was in no position to govern with stability. He instead chose Barnier, who appears to have support from centrists, the right-wing Les Républiques and – for now – the far right.
Barnier’s appointment is unpredictable political territory. He is neither a politician from Macron’s camp nor a fierce rival of the French president. The power dynamics between the two and the effective role of the Prime Minister are yet to be seen.
What can change in Brussels?
The President of France usually represents France in the European Union and in meetings of the European Council, although during cohabitation Prime Ministers have attended Some seats.
But the prime minister is still in charge of directing government action when it comes to EU files. The Prime Minister has the final word on the differences between the various ministries on the EU files. The so-called General Secretariat for European Affairs is placed under his authority: its task is to find agreement between the various ministries and to finalize the French position before it is sent to French diplomats in Brussels.
Barnier may be more active than your typical prime minister because of the relationships and reputation he has developed in Brussels as a former European commissioner and the bloc’s lead Brexit negotiator. That experience could prove to be an asset as France The plan is being negotiated with the Commission To reduce its huge debt and avoid EU fines.
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