Michel Barnier

Michel Barnier
Barnier in 2014
Head of the UK Task Force
In office 16 November 2019 – 31 March 2021
President	Jean-Claude Juncker Ursula von der Leyen
Deputy	Clara Martínez Alberola
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	João Vale de Almeida (As Ambassador to the United Kingdom)
Chief Negotiator of Task Force 50
In office 1 October 2016 – 15 November 2019
President	Jean-Claude Juncker
Deputy	Sabine Weyand
Opposite number	David Davis Olly Robbins David Frost
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services
In office 9 February 2010 – 1 November 2014
President	José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by	Charlie McCreevy
Succeeded by	Elżbieta Bieńkowska
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
In office 19 June 2007 – 22 June 2009
Prime Minister	François Fillon
Preceded by	Christine Lagarde
Succeeded by	Bruno Le Maire
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 31 July 2004 – 22 February 2005
Prime Minister	Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Preceded by	Dominique de Villepin
Succeeded by	Philippe Douste-Blazy
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
In office 13 September 1999 – 31 July 2004
President	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Monika Wulf-Mathies
Succeeded by	Jacques Barrot
Minister of State for European Affairs
In office 18 May 1995 – 3 June 1997
Prime Minister	Alain Juppé
Preceded by	Alain Lamassoure
Succeeded by	Pierre Moscovici
Minister of the Environment
In office 29 March 1993 – 18 March 1995
Prime Minister	Édouard Balladur
Preceded by	Ségolène Royal
Succeeded by	Corinne Lepage
Member of the National Assembly for Savoie's 2nd constituency
In office 12 June 1978 – 1 May 1993
Preceded by	Maurice Blanc
Succeeded by	Hervé Gaymard
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-09) 9 January 1951 (age 73) La Tronche, France
Political party	The Republicans (2015–present)
Other political affiliations	European People's Party Rally for the Republic (before 2002) Union for a Popular Movement (2002–2015)
Spouse	Isabelle Altmayer ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	3
Education	ESCP Business School

Michel Barnier (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl baʁnje]; born 9 January 1951) is a former French politician and former European Union politician.

A member of a series of Gaullist parties (UDR, RR, UMP, and the Republicans), Barnier has served in several French cabinet positions, including as minister of the environment from 1993 to 1995, Minister of State for European Affairs from 1995 to 1997, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2005, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 2007 to 2009.

At the European Union (EU) level, Barnier was European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2010 to 2014 and vice president of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2010 to 2015. From October 2016 to November 2019, he was the EU's Chief Negotiator in the Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (Task Force 50/TF50), then from 2019 to 2021 the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF). ^[1][2][3]

In August 2021, Barnier announced that he was standing for President of France in the 2022 French presidential election, but he failed to win sufficient support at 2021 congress of the Republicans.^[4][5]