French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and incoming PM Gabriel Attal (Image: EPA/Ludovic Marin)
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and incoming PM Gabriel Attal (R) (Image: EPA/Ludovic Marin)

Emmanuel Macron has appointed 34-year-old education minister Gabriel Attal as his new prime minister, as the French president seeks to breathe new life into his second mandate ahead of European Parliament elections.

The move will not necessarily lead to any major political shift, but signals a desire for Macron to try to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his centrist party’s chances in the June EU ballot.

Opinion polls show Macron’s camp trailing far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s party by around eight to 10 percentage points.