France nears new government as Barnier proposes cabinet to Macron

PARIS - France edged closer to having a new government, more than two months after a hung election, as new Prime Minister Michel Barnier's office said he had pulled together a list of ministers he will submit to President Emmanuel Macron later on Thursday.

Macron appointed Barnier, the European Union's former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister two weeks ago.

Barnier has struggled to name a new government, underlining the complicated topography of France's political landscape after Macron's ill-fated decision to call a snap legislative election.

The early July vote delivered an unruly hung parliament that has left political unity hard to come by, leaving France to be ruled by a caretaker government.

It is now up to Macron to approve Barnier's cabinet.

The government's priorities will include improving the public's purchasing power as well as guaranteeing security, controlling immigration and better managing the public finances, Barnier's office said.

Barnier and Macron will meet at 19:15 (1715 GMT) to discuss the new cabinet, Le Monde and other media said, but it was unclear if the administration would be announced in the evening.

Citing comments by former prime minister Gabriel Attal to his party after meeting with Barnier, BFM TV said the government would comprise 16 ministers and 22 junior ministers, from centrist and conservative parties.

Neither Attal nor Barnier made any comment on that.

Settling on a list of names to lead France's key offices of state has been challenging, particularly as the next government will likely have to administer a politically toxic round of spending cuts or tax hikes to improve the country's fiscal mess.

Barnier will need to tread carefully to avoid irking opposition parties who could join up and topple his government with a no-confidence motion.

"The prime minister will have to learn how to engage with an assembly that resembles a cauldron of various sensibilities and temperaments to build a majority," EuroIntelligence said in a note.

-(Reuters)