A messy French compromise

Macron’s decision to appoint a veteran conservative as prime minister risks pleasing no one. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Emmanuel Macron has always styled himself as a European leader first and foremost. So there’s a certain irony that [the latest act]( of his presidency is playing out in traditionally European fashion: a compromise that risks leaving no one happy. Almost two months to the day after a parliamentary election confirmed France’s rejection of “Macronism,” the 46-year-old head of state yesterday named veteran conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister to [navigate that mess](. Macron says he’ll remain in office until his second and final term ends in 2027. But the appointment of an old-guard figure who was campaigning against the president’s agenda as recently as 2022 carries echoes of U-turns that marked the end of earlier European projects. Alexis Tsipras [won a referendum]( in 2015 rejecting bailout terms, a vote that threatened to effectively pull Greece out of the euro, before abandoning those plans and accepting demands for austerity. European Union leaders [dumped Silvio Berlusconi]( and installed Mario Monti in his place when Italy ran into financial trouble in 2011. Barnier, to be sure, won’t have policy dictated by Brussels and he isn’t exactly a technocrat in the way that Monti was. While both are former EU commissioners, Monti was parachuted in amid fears a market rout in Italy could threaten the euro itself. Barnier has been chosen for a political profile that can marshal a majority of French lawmakers who aren’t actively enraged at the mention of his name. But it’s a similar vibe. An EU veteran charged with [steadying the ship]( after political ambition and reality got out of sync. Then it was fiscal policy in Athens and Rome that ran afoul of investors. Now it’s Macron’s reformist vision that failed to convince French voters. In all of those cases, the fundamental problem was a political system breaking down under the pressure of tough decisions.— [Ben Sills]( WATCH: Macron has appointed Barnier as France’s new prime minister. Bloomberg’s Caroline Connan reports from Paris. Source: Bloomberg TV Global Must Reads Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is holding talks on continued military support with allies including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin [at Ramstein Air Base]( in southwestern Germany today. The meeting comes after Zelenskiy, who will also meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz [in Frankfurt]( carried out his most extensive government shuffle since Russia’s 2022 invasion began, including appointing a [new foreign minister](. The US, Qatar and Egypt will present a new cease-fire proposal to Israel and Hamas in the coming days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Washington struggles to find a [way to end the war]( in the Gaza Strip. About 90% of the deal has been agreed upon and the remaining issues are Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, and how Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged, according to the top US diplomat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday [an accord isn’t close](. The US plans to impose export controls on critical technologies in its latest [effort to marshal allies]( against advancements by China and other adversaries. The rules target quantum computers and components, advanced chipmaking tools, a cutting-edge semiconductor technology called gate all-around, and various components and software related to metals and metal alloys, the Commerce Department said. A shortage of fuel has forced motorists in major oil producer Nigeria to line up for hours to fill up tanks and sparked a 45% leap in gasoline pump prices. The increase will fan inflation and risks [re-igniting cost-of-living protests](. It also offers an opportunity for billionaire Aliko Dangote’s giant oil refinery that has started producing fuel and for the country to finally wean itself off a state subsidy on imported gasoline. Customers queue at a gas station in Lagos in July. Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg Colombian President Gustavo Petro is facing the biggest social crisis of his two years in office as truckers who transport food and other essentials [block entry roads]( to Bogotá and other cities in protest at moves to phase out costly diesel subsidies. Public schools and transit have been shut, jet fuel at airports rationed and hospitals are at risk of running out of medicines. The race to lead Japan’s ruling party expanded to six with the entry today of the popular Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of a former prime minister, who said that if his bid is successful he’ll call a general election as soon as possible and quickly put together an [economic package]( to tackle inflation. China handed a nine-year prison term to a Taiwanese political activist convicted of “separatism,” [a rare sentence]( that prompted Taipei to warn its people about the dangers of traveling across the strait. Even as Nicolás Maduro’s legitimacy at home and abroad withers further following Venezuela’s highly contested election, he still has one advantage: The US can’t afford to hit him [where it hurts most]( Mpox cases caused by the fast-spreading clade Ib variant and at least one other strain were [detected in Kinshasa]( the Democratic Republic of Congo’s densely populated capital which has direct flights to more than a dozen countries. Premier Li Qiang signaled that China will open up more to businesses in Africa, comments likely aimed at [fending off worries]( about a record trade surplus with the continent. Washington Dispatch The Kamala Harris campaign machine will spend part of this weekend highlighting a topic that may well come up in next week’s presidential-election debate with Donald Trump: [Project 2025]( an extensive conservative blueprint for reshaping the US government. Trump has said repeatedly that he hasn’t endorsed Project 2025, a collaboration spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation with the stated goal of rescuing the country “from the grip of the radical left.” Several contributors, however, served in his administration. Although a collection of policy papers doesn’t usually generate much attention in an election, polls show that many voters have at least heard of Project 2025, and Democrats have been eager to tie it and some of its less popular recommendations to Trump. Among those attending “events to help our campaign break through to voters about Project 2025,” will be Bill Nye, television’s “Science Guy,” according to the campaign. One thing to watch today: The August jobs [report]( is due to be published, giving an indication of the health of the US labor market just days before the Trump-Harris debate and less than two weeks before a widely anticipated interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day This summer was the hottest ever in the Northern Hemisphere, putting the Earth on track for [another record-breaking year](. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that for June to August, global temperatures were 0.69C above historical averages, beating the previous high set last year. The record for the world’s highest average temperature was broken on a number of days. And Finally Wildfires have always affected Greece, yet they have now become a staple of the summer across southern Europe as climate change creates more extreme weather patterns. While governments are looking at ways to prevent them, Greece’s use of drones and alerts is also showing how the region is [learning to live with them](. WATCH: The impact of fires in and around Athens last month. Source: APTN Pop quiz (no cheating!) Which nation’s oil exports were slashed because of a feud between its eastern and western governments over the leadership of the central bank? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. 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