Immigration, EU, pay: What are PM Michel Barnier's known policies?

As the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is named as France's new prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron, we look at what is known about his policies and values.

Mr Barnier will likely be best-known to Britons for his role as the chief Brexit negotiator for the EU after the UK’s vote to leave the Union.

However, as the new prime minister, Mr Barnier will still have the task of forming a group that can push bills through the Assemblée nationale despite having no clear governing majority.

Read also: Michel Barnier is named as France's new prime minister

Based on his previous election pledges and policies - the most recent being when he ran to be the candidate for Les Républicains  in the 2022 presidential election, before dropping out to support Valérie Pécresse - we can surmise that Michel Barnier’s stances on the following areas may be along these lines:

On Europe

Mr Barnier once said that he was in favour of “regaining legal sovereignty so that we [France] are no longer subject to the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights”. 

This provoked much backlash in Brussels, where the former Commissioner was accused of “cynicism and demagoguery”. 

Mr Barnier said that on the contrary, his experience in European affairs meant that he was in a strong position to understand and criticise the dysfunctions of the EU and attempt to remedy them, “to avoid another Brexit”, he said.

On business and work

Reducing social security contributions, cut production taxes by €10 billion.

He also supported pension and retirement reforms put forward, and backed the idea of raising the retirement age to 65.

On employment and purchasing power

Introducing a capped single social allowance, suspending unemployment benefits after two refusals of ‘reasonable offers’ and increasing the pay of those on the front line in health and education.

On the environment

Introducing a carbon tax at the EU's borders, and including nuclear power as part of clean energy projects.

On immigration

Overhauling Frontex (the EU border security agency), renegotiating the Dublin agreements (which focus on who is responsible for accepting migrants which arrive in the EU), and making the conditions for family reunification more stringent.

When campaigning to be the presidential candidate for Les Républicains in the 2022 election, he said he wanted a national referendum on immigration to France. It is unknown if he still supports the idea of a referendum following the 2024 immigration law. 

On security

Opening 20,000 additional prison places, reinstate the double penalty and minimum sentences.

On rural France 

In 2022, he campaigned on the idea of selling off and privatising around €7 billion of state-owned assets 'in non-strategic areas', that would be reinvested in improved services for rural residents.

This 'rural Marshall plan' would include high-speed internet connections, more railway lines with more frequent services, and new public service information centres, amongst other infrastructure improvements.

LGBT rights 

Following the announcement of Mr Barnier becoming prime minister, commentators pointed to a parliamentary vote in 1981 in which Mr Barnier voted 'against the decriminalisation of homosexuality'. 

However, homosexuality was partially decriminalised by this time - the vote was on ending the disparity in the age of sexual maturity between couples of different sexes and of the same sex (which at the time was 15 and 18, respectively).

When the vote passed (by 327 votes to 155) it effectively 'decriminalised' homosexuality by making all rules on sexual activity the same regardless of who they were conducted with - the age of sexual maturity the last remaining legal difference between straight and homosexual people. 

It is also worth nothing figures including François Fillon and former president Jacques Chirac also voted alongside Barnier against repealing the law.

He did not take part invthe debate on marriage equality in France, as at the time he was working with the EU, and not involved in domestic politices.

Opposition reaction: ‘The election has been stolen’

The right-leaning career politician is not popular among left-wing MPs. 

He likely faces an uphill battle in parliament, after a group led by La France Insoumise (LFI) called for President Macron’s impeachment due to what they see as his failure to appoint a left-leaning PM.

“The election has been stolen,” leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has said. 

And just before the announcement, Mathilde Panot, leader of the LFI MPs in the National Assembly, said: “[Macron] continues to see himself as an autocrat. By appointing Michel Barnier, the President is refusing to respect the sovereignty of the people and the choice made at the ballot box.”

She called for people to move “against this coup de force, which is unacceptable in a democracy”, and reiterated calls for protests on September 7.