In France, the government of the new Prime Minister François Bayrou was presented on Monday evening, after the previous government fell at the beginning of this month. With Bayrou, who is known as a bridge builder, Macron hopes to restore calm to French politics.
The moderate Bayrou gets many old acquaintances in his government. Former Prime Ministers Elisabeth Borne and Manuel Valls return to the center of power. Borne, who served as prime minister from 2022 until January this year, will become Minister of Education in the new government. Valls, who was prime minister under Social Democratic President François Hollande between 2014 and 2016, will become Minister of Overseas Territories.
Right-wing duo on Justice and Home Affairs
Several other ministers who previously served under President Macron are also returning. Gérald Darmanin becomes Minister of Justice. He was Minister of the Interior until last September. In the field of ‘law & order’ in the new government, Darmanin forms a duo with Minister of the Interior Bruno Retaillou. Both come from the conservative party Les Républicains. Both are known for their spicy statements about immigration and integration.
The previous French government, led by former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, was voted out of office in the National Assembly last month when Barnier pushed through a 2025 budget without a vote. Bayrou, who has been a confidante of Macron since 2016 and supported his presidential campaign a year later, is seen as a politician who can work with both the center-left and the center-right.
Bayrou is not only prime minister, but also mayor of the provincial city of Pau on the edge of the Pyrenees. He came under fire immediately after his appointment last week. The day after the natural disaster on the overseas archipelago of Mayotte, Bayrou decided to fly to Pau to chair the municipal council there. He held a crisis meeting on aid to Mayotte via a video link from Pau, while according to critics his presence was desirable in Paris.
Balance budget
The new government’s top priority is to create a budget that complies with the rules of the European Union. France’s budget deficit was no less than 6.1 percent in 2024 (the EU prescribes a maximum of 3 percent) and the national debt is well above 100 percent of gross domestic product. That is far above the 60 percent limit agreed at European level.
A crucial post to achieve those goals, Minister of Finance, goes to the banker Eric Lombard. Lombard was briefly an advisor to a Socialist finance minister in the 1990s. Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, a leading advocate of military support to Ukraine, will remain in his post. Just like Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
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Our analysis of the new Prime Minister François Bayrou