Michel Barnier

Michel Barnier
European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services
In office 9 February 2010 – 1 November 2014
President	José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by	Charlie McCreevy
Succeeded by	Elżbieta Bieńkowska (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) Jonathan Hill (Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
In office 19 June 2007 – 22 June 2009
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	Christine Lagarde
Succeeded by	Bruno Le Maire
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 31 March 2004 – 31 March 2005
Prime Minister	Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Preceded by	Dominique de Villepin
Succeeded by	Philippe Douste-Blazy
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
In office 13 September 1999 – 31 March 2004
President	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Monika Wulf-Mathies
Succeeded by	Jacques Barrot
Minister of State for European Affairs
In office 18 May 1995 – 3 June 1997
Prime Minister	Alain Juppé
Minister of the Environment and Way of Life
In office 29 March 1993 – 18 March 1995
Prime Minister	Édouard Balladur
Personal details
Born	9 January 1951 La Tronche, France
Political party	Rally for the Republic (Before 2002) Union for a Popular Movement (2002–present)
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Altmayer
Alma mater	ESCP Europe

Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) politician and Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP).

Barnier was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the French government on 18 June 2007, stepping down on 7 June 2009 upon his election as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services under Barroso.

The European Commission has appointed him as their Chief Negotiator in charge of the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 of the TEU.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Born at La Tronche in Isère, Rhône-Alpes, Barnier graduated from ESCP Europe in 1972.

Political career

National politics

Barnier served on the staff of various Gaullist ministers in the 1970s, before being elected in 1978, aged 27, to the French National Assembly as Deputy for the Department of Savoie representing the neo-Gaullists, Rally for the Republic (RPR), serving until 1993.

Together with Jean-Claude Killy he organised the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville as co-president of the COJO (Comité d'Organisation des Jeux Olympiques).

Barnier first joined the French Cabinet as Minister of the Environment following the Right's landslide victory in the 1993 legislative election. In 1995, Jacques Chirac appointed him Secretary of State for European Affairs, serving as such until the defeat of the presidential majority in the 1997 legislative election. Barnier then served as a European Commissioner for Regional Policy in the Prodi Commission from 1999 until 31 March 2004. Then he served as Foreign Minister of France in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government until 5 June 2005 when Dominique de Villepin replaced him with Philippe Douste-Blazy. He considered he was unjustly sanctioned for the victory of the "No" in the French referendum over the European Constitution.

In March 2006, Barnier was elected Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP) for a three-year term. Under Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency, upon the reshuffle of the French cabinet, caused by the resignation of Alain Juppé after the 2007 French legislative election, he re-joined the French Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture.

European politics

Barnier worked in 2006 as a special adviser to José Manuel Barroso, the then President of the European Commission, and presented a report to the Council of Ministers proposing the creation of a European civil-protection force.^[3] Between 2006 and 2007, he served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters.

Barnier led the UMP list in Ile-de-France for the 2009 European Parliament election. In February 2010 he was confirmed as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.^[4][5][6] In charge of European banking system reform, he argues for a "coherent single market with intelligent rules that apply everywhere".^[7]

He was twice appointed Acting Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship in Antonio Tajani's stead, from 19 April 2014 – 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament and from 1 July 2014 – 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat.^[8][9]

As European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Barnier handled many important issues, such as the reform of the financial sector (40 pieces of legislation between 2010 and 2014), the banking union (starting with the Single Supervisory Mechanism) and the digital single market.^[10]

Since 2015, Barnier has been serving as unpaid Special Adviser on European Defence Policy to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.^[11][12] On 27 July 2016, he was announced as the European Commission's chief negotiator with the United Kingdom over leaving the European Union, under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Commenting on the appointment, Juncker said "I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job."^[13]

Michel Barnier and Boyko Borisov at the 2011 EPP summit at Bouchout Castle, Meise

Timeline

Michel Barnier 2014 in the European parliament

European Commission

European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services : 2010–14

European Commissioner for Regional Policy : 1999–2004

French Government

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries : 2007–09

Minister of Foreign Affairs : 2004–05

Minister of European Affairs : 1995–97

Minister of the Environment : 1993–95

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament : 2009–10 (Resignation)

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Savoie : 1978–93 (Became minister in 1993). Elected in 1978, reelected in 1981, 1986, 1988, 1993.

Senate of France

Senator of Savoie : Elected in 1995, but he remains minister / 1997–1999 (Resignation, became European commissioner in 1999).

General Council

President of the General Council of Savoie : 1982–99 (Resignation, became European commissioner in 1999). Reelected in 1985, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998.

General councillor of Savoie : 1973–99 (Resignation, became European commissioner in 1999). Reelected in 1979, 1985, 1992, 1998.

Other activities

• International Olympic Committee (IOC), Member of the Sustainability and Legacy Commission^[14]

Honours

• Officer, Légion d'honneur
• Grand Cross, Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

References

3. Barnier as special adviser European Voice, February 19, 2015.
4. "Michel Barnier to take over internal market portfolio". Euobserver. 2009-11-27.
5. Philip Aldrick (30 Nov 2009). "Michel Barnier looks to calm City nerves about reform". The Telegraph. London.
6. "Summary of Hearing of Michel Barnier". European Parliament. 2010-01-13.
7. Castle, Stephen (12 July 2013). "European Union Offers Berlin Compromise on Bank Proposal". The New York Times.
8. EU Observer – Six Commissioners Head for EU Election Campaign Trail
9. KUNA – Barroso announces caretaker replacements following resignation of 4 EU Commissioners
10. Five years of laying the foundations of new growth in Europe (PDF). European Commission. 2014.
11. Special Advisers to the President, Vice-Presidents and Commissioners of the European Commission European Commission.
12. Simon Taylor (March 9, 2015), European Commission special advisers European Voice.
13. Khan, Mehreen (27 July 2016). "Michel Barnier appointed as Juncker's Brexit chief". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
14. Sustainability and Legacy Commission International Olympic Committee (IOC).

External links

• Michel Barnier Official Media Gallery
• Personal Website at the European Commission