| Two elderly politicians, some call them dinosaurs, have occupied the EU’s political scene over the last week – France’s Michel Barnier (73) and Italy’s Mario Draghi (77). The contrast was plain to see during the handover ceremony on 5 September, when outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal (34) received his newly-appointed successor, Michel Barnier, at the Matignon Palace, the headquarters of the French government. Eight months ago, Emmanuel Macron, the youngest president in French history (he was 39 when first elected), named Attal, who became the youngest French prime minister. Barnier, known by some in France as the “good dinosaur”, now holds the opposite record, being the oldest prime minister at the time of its nomination, after Pierre Messmer in 1972, who was then 71. But the flamboyant Attal, who shared ambitions to lead the country Macron-style, like a startup dreaming of becoming a unicorn, hit a snag. On the European election night, amid a far-right surge. Macron surprisingly announced that he would dissolve the assembly and call for snap elections – a move he did not consult with Attal. The speeches of Attal and Barnier delivered at Matignon vividly illustrated two different styles and two different political cultures. “In other circumstances, we could do a better job,” Attal admitted after summing up his cabinet’s inconclusive action. He admitted that “eight months is a short time, and there is frustration as I am leaving office.” Attal emphasised the many dossiers that his government had moved forward and left to his successor, without being able to transform its political ideas into legislation. Barnier, wrongly accused by some commentators of not having a sense of humour, made the audience laugh several times. | 