France gets new government led by Michel Barnier

(Patria) - The chief of staff to President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday that France has a new government, which should end the political uncertainty after early elections that did not yield a clear winner.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government, composed mainly of centrist and conservative parties, will be Jean-Noel Barrot.

- Antoine Armand (33) will hold the position of Minister of Finance. Sebastien Lecornu will remain Minister of Defense - Alexis Kohler said late last night.

It is questionable whether the new government will show stability and succeed in pushing reforms through parliament, analysts say. And the first and most difficult challenge will be the adoption of the 2025 budget.

The government led by conservative Michel Barnier, a former EU Brexit negotiator, will face the demanding task of patching holes in public finances, which could mean making politically very unpopular decisions to raise taxes.

Macron appointed Barnier, a 73-year-old political veteran, as prime minister earlier this month, but the lengthy negotiations he conducted to form his team show that a demanding mission lies ahead of him.

Centrist and conservative parties have found common ground, but they will depend on others, especially the National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen's far-right party, to stay in power and for the divided parliament to pass laws.

The RN has given tacit support to Barnier's prime ministerial mandate, but has reserved the right to withdraw at any time if the new government fails to fulfill its promises on immigration, security, and other issues.