Career in local politics Barrot served in the
Departmental Council of
Haute-Loire for the
canton of Yssingeaux from
2015 until his resignation in 2017, a position his father had held until 2004. In the
2021 regional election, he was elected to the
Regional Council of Île-de-France on the
La République En Marche! list led by
Laurent Saint-Martin.
Member of Parliament (2017–2022) In the
2017 legislative election, Barrot was elected to the
National Assembly in the
2nd constituency of
Yvelines, which encompasses HEC Paris, the
grande école he taught at. He defeated outgoing
deputy Pascal Thévenot of
The Republicans with 58.3% of the second-round vote. In Parliament, he served as a vice president of the
Committee on Finance. He co-authored with
Bénédicte Peyrol draft legislation in 2018 to combat large-scale tax evasion and avoidance schemes through
dividend stripping in the wake of the
CumEx Files revelations. In addition to his committee assignments, Barrot was a member of the French-Uruguayan parliamentary friendship group. In late 2017, Barrot was appointed by
President of the National Assembly François de Rugy to chair a ten-member working group on reforming the National Assembly. The group submitted two reports, in 2017 and 2018, respectively. From February 2018, Barrot served as a Democratic Movement spokesperson, in tandem with
Sarah El Haïry. He eventually succeeded
Yann Wehrling as Secretary General of the Democratic Movement in December 2018, serving until July 2022 under the leadership of party president
François Bayrou.
Minister for Digital Transition and Telecommunications (2022–2024) In July 2022, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Telecommunications in the
government of
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. In 2023, he criticized
ChatGPT and accused the service of not respecting
privacy law. However, he also stated being opposed to efforts to ban the service.
Minister Delegate for European Affairs (2024) In February 2024, Barrot was appointed Minister Delegate for European Affairs under Foreign Minister
Stéphane Séjourné in the
government of Prime Minister
Gabriel Attal. After being reelected in the
2024 snap legislative election, he was elected chair of the
Foreign Affairs Committee while serving as the caretaker Minister Delegate for European Affairs.
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2024–present) Barrot was appointed
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the
government of Prime Minister
Michel Barnier on 21 September 2024, On 8 October, he called Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's rhetoric on the matter a "provocation". In January 2025, Barrot and his German counterpart
Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus to meet Syria's
de facto new leader
Ahmed al-Sharaa on behalf of the European Union, thereby becoming the first ministers from the EU to visit the country since the
fall of the Assad regime. in Washington, D.C., 1 May 2025 In February 2025 Barrot urged
G20 states to show unambivalent support for the international rules-based order, including the sovereignty of
Ukraine. Barrot said the real line of geopolitical division was not between north and south but between those who supported the international rules-based order and those who did not. On 3 January 2026, Barrot condemned the
United States strikes in Venezuela as illegal, stating: "The military operation that led to the capture of
Nicolás Maduro violates the principle of not resorting to force, that underpins international law. France reiterates that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that only sovereign people themselves can decide their future." In April 2025, Barrot wrote to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to oppose the automatic renewal of
Francesca Albanese in her role as UN Special Rapporteur. On 11 February 2026, Barrot called for her resignation. ==Political positions==