Michel Barnier

Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP). He is the current European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. He was named Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries on 18 June 2007 and resigned on 7 June 2009 after being elected to the European Parliament.

Michel Barnier was born in La Tronche in the Isère département of the Rhône-Alpes région, in France. He graduated from ESCP Europe in 1972. Member of the staff of some Gaullist ministers in the 1970s, he was elected to the French National Assembly at 27 as a deputy for the Savoie département in 1978, under the banner of the Neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and served in this function until 1993.

Together with Jean-Claude Killy he organised the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville as co-president of the COJO (Comité d'Organisation des Jeux Olympiques).

Barnier joined the cabinet for the first time after the large victory of the Right in the 1993 legislative election as Minister of the Environment. Two years later, after the election of Jacques Chirac as President of france, he became Secretary of State for European Affairs. He held this function until the defeat of the Presidential Majority in the 1997 legislative election. Barnier served as a European Commissioner for regional policy in the Prodi Commission from 1999 until 31 March 2004 having been made the Foreign Minister of France in the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin. He served in this function until 5 June 2005 when upon the establishment of the new government under Dominique de Villepin he was replaced by Philippe Douste-Blazy. He considered he was unjustly sanctioned for the victory of the "No" in the French referendum over the European Constitution.

In March 2006, he was elected Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP) for a three-year term. Under Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency, upon the reshuffle of the French cabinet, caused by the resignation of Alain Juppé after the 2007 French legislative election, he re-joined the cabinet as Minister of Agriculture. Considered as one of the main right-wing specialists on European issues, he led the UMP list in Ile-de-France for the 2009 European Parliament election. In February 2010 he was confirmed as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.

He is Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour).