Barre, Raymond 1924- . French politician,
member of the centre-right Union pour la
Democratie Francaise; prime minister 1976-81,
when he also held the Finance Ministry
portfolio and gained a reputation as a tough
and determined budget-cutter. Barre, born on
the French dependency of Reunion, was a
liberal economist at the Sorbonne and vice
president of the European Commission 1967-72.
He served as minister of foreign trade to
President Giscard d'Estaing and became prime
minister on the resignation of Chirac 1976.
He built up a strong political base in the
Lyon region during the early 1980s.