New French PM Barnier both 'admired and disliked' in UK

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00:00Michel Barnier, probably best known in the English-speaking world for his role in negotiating

00:07the Brexit agreement with the United Kingdom on behalf of the European Union. So, let's get the

00:11view then from London this afternoon. Bénédicte Péviot is our correspondent there. She's live

00:17with me now. Bénédicte, how well-known and how well-liked is Barnier in the United Kingdom?

00:25Oh, Mr Barnier is very well-known here in the UK. He's absolutely no stranger,

00:31and that is not just to politicians, but one can say the population. So, he is admired by many,

00:39respected by many, but he's also disliked very much in his role as the EU's former chief Brexit

00:47negotiator who led talks with the UK government between 2016 and 2019, certainly by Brexiteers.

00:56What is not so well-known and what the media now is trying to get its head across and around

01:04is that he's a veteran of the right-wing Republicans, Les Républicains, that he's

01:08had a very long political career, 50 years, filled with various senior posts,

01:16whether it's as a French minister for agriculture, French minister for European affairs,

01:20minister also for foreign affairs. So, it's not just in the EU, but also in France. And of course,

01:28that means a lot of experience and negotiating as well. He's certainly considered by Brexiteers

01:34to have really driven a very hard bargain in Brexit negotiations. Brexiteers clearly found him

01:42infuriating. They will be worried about what this means for future Franco-British relations.

01:49Speaking of which, this comes at a time when President Macron and Keir Starmer have been

01:53having various meetings here, also in France, reaffirming their desire to deepen Franco-British

01:59relations, the bilateral relation in particular in the fields of defence, energy and security.

02:05The good news is Mr Barnier speaks fluid English, but will it be really the same language?

02:12Great question, Bénédicte. Has there been any reaction so far in London to the appointment

02:17of Barnier? I understand there are already some questions being asked about

02:22how long he can survive in the job. Indeed. Look, France has been in the news here

02:29regularly during the Paris Olympics, now the Paralympics, but it has not been lost on any

02:35body. Indeed, I've been on very many British outlets talking and explaining about the political

02:41stalemate, that France has no tradition of coalitions, unlike some other European countries.

02:47So the talk here is very much on focus on the fact that Mr Barnier is being given this task

02:53of unifying, of forming a unified government in the service of the country and the French people.

02:59The fact that there's a big demonstration already planned for this coming Saturday,

03:03could that now get even bigger for political opponents? And what will that mean for the whole

03:09of France? Political analysts here are clear that Mr Barnier faces a huge challenge, indeed a mountain

03:16to climb, possibly the biggest challenge of his political career. And the questions here are being

03:22asked about how long can he survive? Is he a transitional PM? How will he get on with President

03:28Macron? And again, what does this mean for the EU? What does it mean on the relationship with the UK?

03:33What does it mean between Paris and London? Will the entente get greater or will there be more problems?

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