A harder line on migration
Barnier’s speech will reveal how far his government wants to go on fighting illegal migration.
While Barnier is seen in EU circles as a creature of Brussels given his work as the bloc’s Brexit negotiator, his political positions lean conservative — especially in terms of migration.
Barnier’s new junior Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, told POLITICO that France plans to push Brussels to get tougher in stopping illegal migration. The country’s new hard-line interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, over the weekend also promised a to take a harder line on migration
Irrespective of Barnier’s actual position on the subject, there are political calculations at play: The survival of his government depends on the tacit support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party.
A division of labor
The speech will likely reveal how much Barnier wants to step in on files that, in the past, were managed by Macron directly.
Barnier’s predecessors focused almost exclusively on domestic affairs, but given the prime minister’s pedigree as a former European commissioner and Brexit negotiator, he is expected to play an important role in Brussels.