Latest Michel Barnier News

France's budget battle: Why the government's plan to plug the deficit is sparking an outcry

Oct. 15, 2024 05:04 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France’s new government has unveiled its 2025 belt-tightening budget bill, with plans for major tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at tackling the country’s giant deficit. Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a conservative, described the massive hole in the public...

France’s minority government survives a no-confidence vote, 2 weeks after taking office

Oct. 08, 2024 14:37 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France’s minority government survived a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, two weeks after taking office, getting over the first hurdle placed by left-wing lawmakers to bring down new conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The vote was a key test for Barnier, whose...

France's prime minister vows to curb debt as he faced baptism of fire at heckled parliament

Oct. 01, 2024 23:10 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Lawmakers gave new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier a rough ride, heckling him constantly, as he laid out his proposed policies in an inaugural speech to parliament on Tuesday, a baptism of fire that highlighted how difficult governing will be for his minority government. ...

France's new premier postpones election in New Caledonia until next year

Oct. 01, 2024 23:06 PM EDT

NICE, France (AP) — France's new Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced Tuesday that a provincial election scheduled for December in the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has been postponed for a year. During his inaugural address to parliament, Barnier also said...

France's Le Pen denies wrongdoing as she and her party go on trial accused of embezzling EU funds

Sep. 30, 2024 12:06 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen denied violating any rules as she and her National Rally party and two dozen others went on trial on Monday, accused of embezzling European Parliament funds, in a case that has the potential to derail her political ambitions. Le...

France's new government pledges hardline stance on migration as it cozies up to far right

Sep. 29, 2024 08:28 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France’s new government is set to take a hardline approach to migration issues as key officials have pledged to significantly reduce the number of people entering and staying illegally in the country. After calling for snap legislative elections in June, President...

France's new government meets for the first time to discuss budget and migrant issues

Sep. 23, 2024 11:26 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France’s new government dominated by conservatives and centrists gathered for the first time Monday as Prime Minister Michel Barnier set budget and migrant issues as top priorities. Barnier convened a meeting early morning with newly appointed ministers ahead of a...

New center-right government in France announced 2 months after divisive elections

Sep. 21, 2024 15:10 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — The French presidential palace unveiled a long-awaited new government Saturday dominated by conservatives and centrists. It came more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with growing financial and...

With a parade of athletes on Champs Elysées, France throws one last party for the Paris Olympics

Sep. 14, 2024 15:39 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — The curtain came down on Paris’ feel-good summer with a grand parade of French athletes on the Champs Elysées on Saturday after the country threw one last party to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Parade of Champions included 460 Olympic and...

Protesters rally in France against Barnier’s appointment as prime minister

Sep. 07, 2024 11:30 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday, responding to a call from a far-left party leader who criticized as a “power grab” the president's appointment of a conservative new prime minister, Michel Barnier. The protests directly...