The French centrist government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has resigned. This was announced by the presidential palace in Paris . President Emmanuel Macron was expected to reshuffle the government following recent difficulties with immigration law. It was initially unclear when a new government would be formed and who would lead it. Borne has held the office of Prime Minister since mid-May 2022.
The dispute over the immigration law in mid-December had put Macron under pressure. Macron’s key plan was passed in a tremor after the government made massive concessions to the conservative Républicains. However, the stricter legal text caused severe tensions within the Macron camp. 20 MPs from Macron’s ranks voted against the text and 17 abstained. Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau subsequently resigned. According to rumors, other left-wing cabinet members had also considered leaving the government because of the text before the vote.
Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party is in wait
The government under President Macron has been in the difficult situation of no longer having an absolute majority in the National Assembly for a year and a half. It is therefore dependent on votes from the opposition for its projects. Prime Minister Borne (62) tried tirelessly to find compromises. However, the government did not find a reliable partner in parliament. Macron’s core project of pension reform was ultimately pushed through by the government without a final vote in the National Assembly.
It is expected that Macron will move forward with a renewed cabinet and hold his camp together, especially after the internal quarrels. After all, the European elections are coming up in the spring, in which Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party threatens to significantly overtake Macron’s troops.
Who is Elisabeth Borne?
Élisabeth Borne (born 18 April 1961, Paris ) is a French bureaucrat and minister.
He is a graduate of the École Polytechnique , the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (National School of Roads and Bridges) and the Collège des Ingénieurs (College of Engineering). He started his professional career in 1987. In the early 1990s, he served as an advisor to the ministers of national education, Lionel Jospin and Jack Lang . He was the technical advisor to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin between 1997-1999, and the advisor responsible for transportation, urban planning and housing to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin between 1999-2002. He served as strategy manager at the National Railways between 2002-2007, worked at Eiffage company between 2007-2008, and served as the general director of urban planning at the Paris municipality between 2008-2013. He was regional governor of Poitou-Charentes and governor of Vienne in 2013-2014 , was appointed cabinet director when Ségolène Royal became environment minister in April 2014, and a year later was appointed president-general director of the Paris Transport Authority (RATP). She is divorced and is the mother of a son. He became the Minister of Transport on 17 May 2017, and in addition to this ministry, he was appointed as the Minister of Solidarity and Ecological Transition on 16 July 2019. He became the Minister of Labor on July 6, 2020, and resigned on January 8, 2024, after becoming the prime minister on May 16, 2022.
