Can Barnier fix a broken system?

The Eurointelligence Podcast

Wolfgang Munchau

News, Eu, European Politics, Political Economy, Italy, Brexit, Recovery Fund, Political Risk, Business, European Union, Netherlands, Ecb, Economics, Uk, Fiscal Union, Government, Transatlantic Relations, European Integration, France, Geopolitics, Eurozone, Banking, China, Spain, Germany, Political Union, Politics, Trade, Eu-china

4.5 • 30 Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In our latest podcast, the team discusses the appointment of Michel Barnier as French prime minister, why this suits Le Pen, and how the left managed to turn an election victory into a defeat.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Eurointelligence podcast. I'm Wolfgang Munchau and with me are Susanna Monshank and Jack Smith.
0:06.4	Today we want to talk about Michel Barnier.
0:09.3	Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister.
0:12.7	Very much a surprise move.
0:14.7	Susanna, how did it happen? What will happen now?
0:17.8	Just going back to the elections like 15.1 days ago, the left alliance won these
0:22.6	elections. And since then, Emmanuel Macron did interview with several candidates and several
0:29.1	other heavy rates of parties. And the problem was there were so many red lines and not clear
0:35.1	majorities. He tried Xavier Bertrand and Bernard Kassenev,
0:39.7	after he refused to accept the left candidate Lucy Castetz. Here comes Michel Barnier. No one has
0:46.3	seen him coming. He was no one's candidate, and he's definitely not a candidate from the left,
0:53.4	who won these elections. He's really a staunch kind of candidate from the left who won these elections. He's a really a staunch
0:56.1	kind of candidate from the right. He only actually convinced Macron to be the candidate because
1:00.9	he could guarantee the stability of a government by the Rassamblement National, who emerged as
1:08.2	the power broker by backing Barnier and no one else.
1:12.6	So here we are, we have an election that, what the centrists teamed up with the left
1:19.4	to block the Rassam L'Amouin National from coming into power.
1:24.1	Now we are back to Square One, where the Rass Le Manson National has their final say over who's
1:30.5	going to be the prime minister and whether he can last or not.
1:33.3	That's so funny.
1:34.3	It's a bit of a cautionary tale about tactical, the effects of tactical voting, isn't it?
1:38.7	It definitely is.
	...

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