After weeks of waiting, the formation of the French government headed by Michel Barnier was announced on Saturday. It is a right-wing government of 39 ministers, whose first task will be to pass the draft budget.
The centrist Jean-Noël Barrot was assigned the foreign ministry portfolio, the radical conservative Bruno Rotayot the interior portfolio, while Sébastien Lecornu, an ally of Macron, once again took over the military portfolio. The government will hold its first meeting on Monday afternoon at the Elysee.
The results of the legislative elections held in July have complicated the formation of the government, as they did not lead to an explicit majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, which is currently divided into three blocs: the left, which topped the election results, the center-right, and the far-right.
On September 5, French President Emmanuel Macron tasked Michel Barnier, a member of the right-wing Republicans party, with forming the new government, hoping to pull France out of the political impasse.
On Thursday, Barnier provided clarifications on issues that have caused tensions with his partners. He stressed that he would not raise taxes on the middle classes, according to several participants in the meetings.
Macron's camp deputies have threatened not to participate in a government that plans to raise taxes despite the worsening debt and deficit and the preparation of the 2025 budget.
On immigration, another sensitive issue, the prime minister wants to implement the European pact on migration and asylum.
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