New French government unveiled, Le Drian foreign minister

His choice of Philippe, 46, for prime minister was seen as a strategic pick by the 39-year-old president, who is trying to woo modernisers of all stripes to his side.

Francois Baroin, head of the Republican campaign for next month’s legislative elections, said he regretted losing Philippe, Le Maire and Darmanin.

The Republicans later sent out a statement calling the government “confusing”.

His party Le Republique en Marche is scrambling to get 577 candidates together to contest every seat in the country.

Another prominent Socialist appointment is that of former Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who will now take over the foreign affairs portfolio. To meet that goal, he appointed well-known environmentalist Nicolas Hulot as ecology minister and a publisher as culture minister.

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

Gerard Collomb, the veteran Socialist party mayor of Lyon who was one of the first in his party to back Macron, was named interior minister.

Le Maire shares pro-European views with Sylvie Goulard, a former member of the European Parliament for the centrist Democratic Movement who is now the defense minister.

France’s new sports minister is one of the country’s most decorated sportswomen, with five Olympic medals and six world championships under her belt.

That the new prime minister was a member of the Republicans, the mainstream right, “is the demonstration that (the Republicans) can not symbolize an opposition worthy of the name”, Le Pen said in a statement.

Macron will hold his first cabinet meeting Thursday.

Macron had delayed announcing the names on Tuesday with the official reason given that it was due to the need to carry out more extensive screening of candidates.

Edouard Philippe is married and has three children.

They fear he will poach more of their leading figures as he tries to widen his political base before crucial parliamentary elections in June.

Meanwhile the Republicans’ deputy secretary general Éric Ciotti was quoted as calling the pro-Macron initiative “a slap” rather than an outstretched hand – suggesting supporting Republicans were opportunistically seeking a role in the new government.

Some analysts and opponents have questioned the strength of Macron’s mandate after he won just 24.01 percent in the first round of the presidential election on April 23 before his landslide victory over Le Pen in the second.

Travelling to the German capital to meet the veteran leader in his first official trip overseas, Macron used the opportunity to call for a “historic reconstruction” of Europe.

She held out the possibility of deep reform to the 19-nation eurozone if it is deemed necessary, saying she’s prepared to talk about changes to the European Union treaties – a cumbersome and politically risky process.