French President Emmanuel Macron has named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labour protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending.

The most senior Cabinet job — the post of interior minister — went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Mr Macron's presidential bid. The Interior Ministry is responsible for securing France amid a high threat of extremist violence.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, who led France's military operations abroad as former President Francois Hollande's defence minister, will stay on in Mr Macron's government as foreign minister. Le Drian, also a Socialist, has been largely popular and brings deep experience that could prove valuable to the untested 39-year-old president.

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The armed forces will now be led by Sylvie Goulard, 59, the most senior woman in the government. Goulard is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will champion Macron's push for joint European military operations.

The crucial Economy Ministry will be run by prominent conservative Bruno Le Maire, 48, an important gesture to the right-wing Republicans party ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

The government includes 18 ministers, half of them women and half men. Center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Mr Macron tapped named Monday, is to lead the government at least until the elections.

Other positions were filled by ministers from civil society. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition.

Four junior ministers also were named Wednesday, making the total number of Cabinet posts smaller by one-third than under Mr Hollande.

The announcement initially planned for Tuesday was pushed back a day while authorities dug more deeply into candidates' tax records and financial assets for signs of potential conflicts of interest.

Mr Macron has pledged to fight corruption after tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government.

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Later Wednesday, Mr Macron will host European Council President Donald Tusk at the Elysee Palace for a private dinner. It's a sign of the new French president's determination to shore up European unity. The two are expected to discuss security and migration, according to Mr Macron's office.

Mr Macron wants European militaries to join efforts and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules.

He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU, to deter others from trying to leave after debt and migration crises that have eroded public support for the bloc.

Mr Macron is expected to visit French troops in Africa later this week. He has already met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel — his main European partner — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and International Olympic Committee members.

Associated Press</s>Jean-Yves Le Drian will become foreign minister in French president's new government; defense minister is Sylvie Goulard.</s>Bruno Le Maire named France's finance minister, Gerard Collomb becomes interior minister in Macron's first government.</s>The Latest on new French President Emmanuel Macron's government (all times local):

French President Emmanuel Macron's first government of 18 Cabinet ministers includes a mix of experienced politicians and newcomers from civil society.

Half of the appointees announced Wednesday are men and half are women.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Macron named on Monday, will lead the government, at least until the parliamentary elections scheduled for June.

Philippe and Macron chose experienced politicians from the left, the center and the right for the main positions.

Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian (John-Eve Le DREE-on) was named foreign minister and prominent centrist Francois Bayrou (Frans-WA Bey-ROO) as justice minister.

Another centrist, Sylvie Goulard (Goo-LARR), will lead the Defense Ministry, while Socialist Gerard Collomb will head the Interior Ministry. High-profile conservative Bruno Le Maire (Le-mare) was the pick for the Finance Ministry.

Other positions were filled by ministers from civil society. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition.

A high-profile conservative politician has been named as France's finance minister in President Emmanuel Macron's first government.

Bruno Le Maire (Le-mare) is a member of The Republicans party. The 48-year-old served as agriculture minister from 2009 to 2012 under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Alexis Kohler (Ko-LAIR), Macron's general secretary at the presidential Elysee Palace, made the announcement Wednesday.

His appointment in Macron's government is a signal to right-wing voters ahead of June parliamentary elections.

Gerard Collomb (Je-RAR Koll-OMB), a 69-year-old Socialist, was appointed interior minister. He has since 2001 been major of Lyon — France's third biggest city. He was the first major Socialist politician to decide to back Macron's presidential bid.

France's former defense minister has been named as foreign minister and centrist politician Sylvie Goulard (Goo-LARR) defense minister in French President Emmanuel Macron's first government.

Alexis Kohler, Macron's new general secretary at the presidential Elysee Palace, made the announcement Wednesday.

The 69-year-old Jean-Yves Le Drian (John-Eve Le DREE-on) was France's defense minister during the five-year term of former President Francois Hollande. He was one of the Socialist government's most popular ministers.

He supervised French military operations in Mali, Central African Republic, Iraq and Syria.

The 59-year-old Goulard, the new defense minister, is a pro-European centrist politician. She started her professional career at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, where she was a member of the team that negotiated the consequences of Germany's reunification in 1989-1990.

She also worked as a political adviser to Italian politician Romano Prodi when he was president of the European Commission from 2001 to 2004.

She has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009.

9:54 a.m. French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting with the European Union president as both try to keep the bloc from falling apart.

Macron, who will also verify his choices for government ministers, is hosting Donald Tusk in the Elysee Palace in a sign of the new French president's determination to shore up European unity.

Macron wants European militaries to work together more, and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules. He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU.

Macron's office will announce the government lineup Wednesday afternoon, after a delay to dig deeper into proposed ministers' tax records and potential conflicts of interest. A series of tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government.</s>The new President of France will put an end to all the speculation on Monday by naming his new Prime Minster. Here's a look at a list of the favourites.

BREAKING NEWS: Emmanuel Macron names Edouard Philippe as his new prime minister

Macron has been under pressure to reveal the name of his prime minister for several weeks, but he has so far refused to divulge the person who will lead his government.

The new president, who is backed by his pop-up La Republique En Marche! (formerly just En Marche!) movement rather than a traditional political party, says he will reveal the name on Monday.

In the meantime the names of his possible prime minsters continue to fly around, although we can safely rule out names such as François Hollande, Manuel Valls, François Fillon, Marine Le Pen and the person that threw an egg at him at the Agricultural show earlier this year.

Here's a look at some of the contenders.

According to an Opinionway poll, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is the most popular among Macron's potential Prime Ministers.

Some 13% of those questioned would like to see Lagarde as his PM. She has been minister three times (for Trade in 2005, Agriculture in 2007 and Economy in 2011) and is therefore vastly experienced.

However her name may be slightly tarnished given that last year a French court found Lagarde guilty of negligence over a €400 million payout to the tycoon Bernard Tapie in 2008.

Tapie was not however handed any punishment and immediately received the backing of the French government.

Leader of the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem) François Bayrou, 65, joined Macron at a crucial time in his campaign, when he started to dip in the polls. Bayrou had initially been hostile to Macron.

Bayrou told Macron he was simply there to help and insisted his backing did not come with any conditions attached - namely a position in his government.

Nevertheless Macron could go for the mayor of the city of Pau, (in the south-west of France) who served as Minister of Education from 1993 to 1997 and who has run for the presidency on three occasions.

Bayrou holds considerable influence behind the scenes in parliament but would hardly embody the renewal Macron has promised.

Bayrou is not popular among the right, who blame him for Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat in the 2012 presidential campaign. Bayrou had publicly backed François Hollande.

Praised for her experience of the EU institutions, 52-year-old Goulard (pictured above to the right of Macron) is Member of the European Parliament for Bayrou's MoDem party.

Having organized Macron's visit to Berlin with German chancellor Angela Merkel on March 16th, Goulard was also Romano Prodi's advisor when he presided the European Commission. But Goulard lacks heavyweight parliamentary experience in France and is unknown to most French people.

The 46 year old MP and mayor of Le Havre Edouard Philippe comes from the center right Republicans party.

Philippe is close to centrist Alain Juppé, the former presidential candidate who was defeated in the right wing primary.

The lawmaker briefly joined the Socialist Party when he was a young man before jumping ship to the Republicans party when it was called the UMP.

Philippe is fairly new in politics having only been an MP for one term but is he heavyweight enough to lead a government?

READ ALSO: Macron picks Edouard Philippe as his new Prime Minister

The current 69-year-old Minister for Defence in Hollande's Socialist government is liked and respected by both those on the right and the left.

He is a heavyweight and has experience of being in government which Macron could well need. Le Drian made his support clear for Emmanuel Macron very early in the campaign.

His opponents argue that his age and his closeness to Hollande will go against the renewal that Macron has promised.

The MP for Finistère in Brittany Richard Ferrand, 54, is one of Macron's oldest and closest allies and became general secretary to En Marche.

Ferrand worked closely with Macron on the former minister's controversial reforms to free up sections of the economy, like the Sunday shopping rules.

Although loyal and an experienced MP, Ferrand's Socialist background and lack of visibility could prove a downside.

However Ferrand is someone "who has a will to lead a fight. He is someone who already has political experience, that's undeniable”, Macron told Le Parisien before his election.

The Republican's Xavier Bertrand, 52, is vastly experienced having served once as Minister for Health and twice as Minister of Labour.

He is also Mayor of Saint-Quentin and President of the regional council of the Hauts-de-France.

Bertrand could be a good pick for Macron as he comes from the right and is respected on the left and could signal the image of all-inclusiveness that Macron is after.

But it's unclear whether Bertrand would jump ship and he doesn't exactly symbolize renewal.

Centrist Anne-Marie Idrac, 65, is the former CEO of French rail chiefs SNCF and Paris transport authority RATP.

She has been a secretary of state in previous French governments under former PM's Alain Juppé and François Fillon.

Macron said during his campaign that he was very eager to name a woman as PM so given her experience in both civil and political life Idrac could fit the bill perfectly.

On the other hand, Idrac has little parliamentary experience and has been out of politics for many years.

Aged 66 Borloo, a lawyer and a former Minister for Ecology, comes from the right but retired from French politics three-years ago for medical reasons.

Borloo, who supported Sarkozy's 2012 Presidential campaign is on bad terms with François Bayrou, given Bayrou endorsed Hollande five years ago.

Borloo has said he would be ready to “help” Macron if he got elected.

And the others?

The other names circulating include Republican's Bruno Le Maire, who ran for the presidency and was defeated in the primary, Jean-Paul Delevoye, 70, a former minister under Jacques Chirac's and now an En Marche official, Bertrand Delanoe, a popular former Socialist mayor of Paris, former leader of the Medef business leaders union Laurence Parisot and the Socialist Mayor of Lyon Gérard Collomb.</s>PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - Newly inaugurated centrist French president Emmanuel Macron chose his government on Wednesday, appointing a mix of political hues to the top jobs as part of his promise to bridge the right-left divide.

Having already made conservative Edouard Philippe, a member of The Republicans party, his prime minister earlier in the week, Macron picked Bruno Le Maire a pro-European, German-speaking rightist, also from The Republicans, as his economy minister.

As interior minister, he picked Gerard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon who was one of the first Socialists to be a vocal supporter of Macron.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, outgoing Socialist defence minister and a close friend of ex-President Francois Hollande, was named foreign minister and minister for Europe.</s>French President Emmanuel Macron's first government of 18 Cabinet ministers includes a mix of experienced politicians and newcomers from civil society.

Half of the appointees announced on Wednesday are men and half are women.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom President Macron named on Monday, will lead the government, at least until the parliamentary elections scheduled for June.

Mr Philippe and Mr Macron chose experienced politicians from the left, the centre and the right for the main positions.

Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian was named foreign minister and prominent centrist Francois Bayrou as justice minister.

Another centrist, Sylvie Goulard will lead the Defence Ministry, while Socialist Gerard Collomb will head the Interior Ministry.

High-profile conservative Bruno Le Maire was the pick for the Finance Ministry.

Other positions were filled by ministers from civil society.

Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition.</s>PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron has gathered his newly-named government for his first Cabinet meeting - an assembly that looks significantly different than its predecessors.

The government, appointed on Wednesday, is a mix of 22 prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right, half of them women.

They arrived smiling Thursday, briefly posing for photographs on the front porch of the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris.

New French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, right, and new Deputy Minister in charge of European Affairs Marielle de Sarnez arrive for the first weekly cabinet meeting under new French President Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right to make up the government. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The most senior Cabinet job, interior minister, went to Gerard Collomb, 69, long-time Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Macron's presidential bid.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, former defense minister under former President Francois Hollande, stays on in Macron's government as foreign minister and Europe minister.

The armed forces are now led by centrist, pro-European Sylvie Goulard, 52.

New Sports Minister Laura Flessel arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting under new French President Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right to make up the government. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

New French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting under new French President Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right to make up the government. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President, Emmanuel Macron, 2nd right, attends a cabinet meeting with Justice minister Francois Bayrou, right, Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, center, Economy minister Bruno Le Maire and Budget minister Gerald Darmanin at the Elysee Palacein Paris, France, Thursday, May 18, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right Wednesday to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labor protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)</s>The government named by Emmanuel Macron, France’s new heart-on-his-sleeve Europhile president, once again pointedly emphasised the pride of place the European project will receive in his new administration.

Macron set Europhile hearts aflutter on Election Night with the European Union's anthem, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, part of his victory march to the stage at the Louvre Museum. He might have struck up the same band again on Thursday morning as ministers named fewer than 24 hours earlier arrived for their first cabinet meeting.

The nudges and winks to Brussels – and perhaps more pointedly to Berlin – are clear in Macron’s choice of EU veterans and German speakers. After naming Edouard Philippe, a German-speaker who finished high school in Bonn in 1988, as his prime minister on Monday, Macron selected near-perfect German speakers for Finance and Defence.

New Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire spoke to his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schauble, on his very first day in office on Wednesday and scheduled a meeting for next Monday morning in Berlin, from which the Franco-German pair will travel onward to Brussels together for Le Maire’s first European meeting of finance ministers.

A poached catch from the conservative Les Républicains party, the 48-year-old Le Maire began his career as a diplomat and then served as foreign affairs minister and then agriculture minister under former president Nicolas Sarkozy. He was Dominique de Villepin’s chief of staff when the flamboyant Frenchman, then-foreign affairs minister, made his historic 2003 speech at the United Nations Security Council against the war in Iraq.

Unlike some key figures in Le Maire’s former party -- Les Républicains kicked Le Maire out on Wednesday after he joined Macron’s cabinet – France’s new finance chief is an unabashed Europhile. “I share with the president of the Republic the profound conviction going back years that nothing great will happen in Europe without a solid Franco-German friendship,” he said on Wednesday. “It is time for the EU and the euro zone in particular to give themselves that coherence, that power to face up to the power of China, Russia and the United States.”

Le Maire’s conservative political stripe will also reassure European partners – and, again, Berlin in particular; early enthusiasm in Germany for the European integrationist Macron’s May 7 election win over Europhobe populist Marine Le Pen quickly gave way in some quarters to worries about whether the Frenchman’s ultimate success might somehow require Germany to loosen its own purse-strings.

French budgetary discipline – often promised, far more rarely delivered -- is also seen as a critical means of gaining the confidence of Macron’s new counterparts across the bloc. As such, it bears noting that both of the conservatives that Macron cherrypicked for his cabinet have been posted to economic roles. Gérald Darmanin, 34, a onetime Sarkozy protégé, signed on as budget minister.

Meanwhile, under Macron, the foreign minister’s official title has been changed to Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, inverting – semantically, at least – a time-honoured order of priorities.

The rookie French president, who has made a mission of political renewal, resisted the temptation to name a newcomer to the foreign role and went with a steady hand in Jean-Yves Le Drian. A rare popular figure in François Hollande’s cabinet, Le Drian lasted through the Socialist ex-president’s full five-year term as defence minister.

Under Le Drian, European Affairs has been entrusted to the centrist Marielle de Sarnez, a veteran European politician and specialist who has been elected to the EU Parliament since 1999.

Macron’s new defence minister, Sylvie Goulard, for her part, literally wrote “Europe for Dummies,” or at least its French version, “L’Europe pour les Nuls”. A polyglot Europe specialist and twice-elected member of the European Parliament, the centrist Goulard speaks four languages fluently (French, Italian, German and English). She began her career in France’s foreign ministry in 1989 working on the German reunification portfolio. Later in Brussels, Goulard was political advisor to a European Commission president, Romano Prodi, from 2001 to 2004. She has also taught at Belgium’s prestigious College of Europe in Bruges.

Pundits had expected Goulard to join the government as foreign minister, but the fact she was named at defence sends a strong signal that Macron is serious about his campaign pledge to orchestrate more European integration on security and defence issues.

“This is a strong European signal,” François Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Reuters. “Sylvie Goulard is a professional European, which can only mean one thing – that European defence is one of the priorities.”

The new glut of German-speaking Europhiles at the peak of power in France join similarly inclined Macron associates out of the public eye. Career diplomat Philippe Etienne, Macron’s diplomatic “sherpa” inside the Elysée Palace, was most recently France’s ambassador to Berlin after five years in Brussels. Macron’s speechwriter, Sylvain Fort, has translated 18th-century German Romantic Friedrich Schiller’s plays.

But the new French president knows that before he can act, in earnest, on turning his campaign platform into policy in France, he will need a majority in legislative elections next month. For all its strategic usefulness, Macron’s savvy cherrypicking – the conservative Le Maire and the Socialist Le Drian are respected figures in their respective camps – is surely also designed to deliver tactically on that score as well, piquing the interest potential defectors from rival parties and that of voters alike.

If it works, Macron may find himself with a once-farfetched majority of lawmakers – and a new reason to hum an "Ode to Joy".</s>Emmanuel Macron names new French government, mixing left and right, men and women

France's centrist President Emmanuel Macron has named his government, appointing a mix of people from different political persuasions to the top jobs as part of his promise to bridge the right-left divide.

Mr Macron had promised to include figures from civil society in his Government.

To that end, Nicolas Hulot, a well-known environmentalist, was named as Ecology Minister.

Also, an Olympic fencer, Laura Flessel, was named Minister for Sport, a publisher, Francoise Nyssen, will be Minister for Culture and a medical professor, Agnes Buzyn, is now Health Minister.

There are 22 cabinet members and in keeping with his promise of gender balance, Mr Macron named 11 men and 11 women.

Having already made conservative Edouard Philippe his Prime Minister earlier in the week, Mr Macron's pick for Economy Minister was Bruno Le Maire a pro-European, German-speaking rightist from Mr Philippe's The Republicans (LR) party.

Mr Le Maire is a free-marketeer and a heavyweight in the LR party, which he has urged to cooperate with the 39-year-old President while others refuse such an alliance.

For Interior Minister, Mr Macron picked Gerard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon who was one of the first Socialists to support him.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, outgoing Socialist Defence Minister and a close friend of ex-President Francois Hollande, was named Foreign Minister and Minister for Europe.

"He's very serious and well-liked but doesn't know that much about foreign affairs."

The Foreign Ministry portfolio does not usually officially include Europe.

In another nod to the importance of Europe for Mr Macron, Sylvie Goulard, a centrist politician in the European Parliament who speaks four languages and is better known in Brussels than in Paris, was named Defence Minister.

The government appointments are part of a delicate balancing act Mr Macron has to perform ahead of the mid-June legislative elections.

By becoming President with no established party backing he has already thrown traditional party loyalties into the air, and early poll predictions show his start-up Republic on the Move (REM) party will have more lower house seats than any other.

To make sure he ends up with a workable majority, surrounding himself with people tempted away from both sides of the political divide broadens his support and weakens the main traditional parties, LR and the Socialists.

By doing so, though, he could also be increasing the risk of dissent in future.

"They're trying to make a consensus government in order to get things done, so for the moment I'll give Macron the benefit of the doubt," said Clairinvest fund manager Ion-Marc Valahu.
President of France Emmanuel Macron nominates the full Édouard Philippe government. Jean-Yves Le Drian becomes foreign minister, Sylvie Goulard defence minister, Bruno Le Maire minister of economy, and Gérard Collomb minister of the interior.