President Emmanuel Macron has named EU former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France's new prime minister.
The announcement came on Thursday after more than 50 days of caretaker government.
The appointment of the 73-year-old follows weeks of intense efforts by Mr Macron and his aides to find a candidate who might be able to survive possible attempts by his opponents to quickly topple the new government that Mr Barnier is now tasked to put together and lead.
A statement from Macron's office announcing Barnier's appointment said he'd been tasked "with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people."
"This appointment comes after an unprecedented cycle of consultations during which, in accordance with his constitutional duty, the President ensured that the Prime Minister and the future government would meet the conditions to be as stable as possible and give themselves the chances of uniting as broadly as possible," the statement said.
Three years ago Mr Barnier said he wanted to take on President Macron for the French presidency, saying he wanted to limit and take control of immigration. He eventually failed to be the selected as a candidate by his party.
Mr Barnier was the EU's chief Brexit negotiator and led talks with the UK government between 2016 and 2019.He will be France's oldest prime minister since the Fifth Republic came into being in 1958.
He is set to succeed Gabriel Attal, France's youngest ever prime minister, who President Macron first appointed prime minister in early 2024 and who has stayed in post as caretaker since July.
