29 May, 2017
Gerard Collomb (Je-RAR Koll-OMB), a 69-year-old Socialist, was appointed interior minister. FILE - In this April 7, 2017 file photo, France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrives for an emergency defense meeting, in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron waits to welcome UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would welcome new French President Emmanuel Macron with an open mind at a meeting on Monday, aiming to reinvigorate the Franco-German relationship and the troubled European project that it underpins.
Emmanuel Macron's support for the Paris bid is seen as symbolically important, and his decision to meet Tuesday with the visiting International Olympic Committee delegation was one of his first moves since taking office Sunday.
In his first speech in the ministry's courtyard Wednesday, Collomb said Europe and France especially "are being targeted by terrorists", noting that the terrorist threat comes from overseas, but is also "rooted in our territory". The 65-year-old came close, but ultimately failed, to destabilizing the battle that was fought between the Socialist's Segolene Royal and future President Nicolas Sarkozy. Goulard, 52, is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will be expected to champion Macron's push for joint European military operations. High-profile conservative Bruno Le Maire (Le-mare) was the pick for the Finance Ministry.
The government includes 18 ministers, half of them women and half men.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom President Macron named on Monday, will lead the government, at least until the parliamentary elections scheduled for June. One diplomat said the changes in president and ministers would enable a review of Paris' positioning on key issues such as the crises in Syria and Libya. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition.
Four junior ministers also were named Wednesday, making the total number of Cabinet posts smaller by one-third than under Hollande.
Newly-inaugurated Macron has redefined history, as this is the first time in modern French political history that a president willingly appoints a prime minister from outside his camp.
The government will be formally presented on Wednesday after Mr Macron's office delayed the announcement, initially expected on Tuesday, while authorities check the tax records and backgrounds of potential ministers, in an effort to prevent any potential conflict of interest.
That adds to the emphasis Macron has put on his role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces by his drive down the Champs Elysees in a military jeep on his inauguration day, his visit to injured soldiers, and his preparations to see French troops in Africa on Friday.
He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the European Union, to deter others from trying to leave after debt and migration crises that have eroded public support for the bloc.
