Key facts on Michel Barnier, France's new prime minister
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FILE PHOTO: Michel Barnier of the French conservative party Les Republicains (The Republicans - LR) arrives to attend an emergency meeting called by LR party chiefs in Paris, following their leader Eric Ciotti's decision to form an alliance between his party's candidates and the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) in a snap parliamentary election, France, June 12, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
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PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron appointed the European Union's former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as his new prime minister on Thursday in a bid to end political paralysis following an inconclusive snap election.
Here are a few key facts about Barnier:
* 1951 - Born Jan. 9 in La Tronche, a suburb of the French Alpine city of Grenoble.
* 1978 - Elected to parliament aged 27, representing the Gaullist, centre-right Savoie district.
* 1992 - Co-organiser of Winter Olympics held at Albertville in his constituency, an event still central to his public image.
* 1993-95 - Environment minister.
* 1995-97 - France's Europe minister.
* 1999-2004 - EU regional policy commissioner, responsible for grants and subsidies accounting for a third of Union's budget.
* 2004-05 - Foreign minister.
* 2007-09 - Agriculture minister.
* 2009-10 - EU lawmaker.
* 2010-14 - EU commissioner for internal market and services. Negotiated extensive new regulation of financial markets after the global crash, including reforms unpopular in the City of London.
* 2016 - Named EU's Brexit negotiator after Britain's referendum on leaving the bloc.
* 2021 - Failed in a bid to get his conservative party's nomination for the 2022 presidential election. REUTERS
