French government survives no-confidence votes over budget

PARIS - The French government survived two votes of no-confidence in parliament on Friday over its decision to ram through the income part of the 2026 budget without giving the National Assembly the final say.

A total of 269 lawmakers voted in favor of the no-confidence motion presented by the hard-left France Unbowed together with the Greens and Communists, whereas 288 votes were required to bring down the government. Even fewer backed a second no-confidence motion, brought by the far right.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will now again invoke article 49.3 of the constitution to force the expenditure part of the budget through the National Assembly - a move that will almost certainly trigger further votes of no confidence.

President Emmanuel Macron's government is having to circumvent parliament after months of negotiations failed to deliver a deficit-taming finance bill that would pass in a lower house where no party has a working majority.

The government expects the entire budget to be definitively adopted in the first half of February, one government official said.

Reuters