French President Emmanuel Macron, who has yet to appoint a prime minister two months after snap elections, is considering whether to choose former EU Brexit chief Michel Barnier, a source said.

The conservative 73-year-old politician previously held various government roles while also being an EU commissioner.

A source close to Barnier told Reuters that there had been contacts with the presidential staff without giving details.

Macron has considered a number of potential prime ministerial candidates in recent weeks, but none have gathered enough support to guarantee a stable government, and there is no guarantee that things will be any different for Barnier or his Macron ally. , François Bayrou, who is also mentioned by the French media as a possible candidate.

But at least the far-right National Alarm, one of the largest parties in parliament after elections in early July, has hinted it will not immediately block the candidacy of Barnier or Bayrou if they meet certain conditions.

Barnier is a staunch pro-European and a career conservative politician, but he toughened his tone during his failed 2021 conservative party presidential campaign by saying immigration is out of control, something National Alarm agrees with.

As Alarm MP Sébastien Senou told the BFM TV network, the far-right party will wait to see what Barnier has to say about immigration and changing the French electoral system.

For his part, Laurent Jacobelli, also a Member of Parliament for Alarm, said that one condition is the shortest possible dissolution of parliament, which is set in time at the beginning of July next year.

“The National Alarm wants a prime minister who is committed to the dissolution, as soon as possible, of the parliament and the establishment of simple proportionality (for parliamentary elections),” Jacobelli told TF1.

However, the National Alarm is not a particularly ardent supporter of Barnier.

“They are pulling out of mothballs those who ruled France for 40 years,” commented Jacobelli.