France’s government is on the brink of collapse after right- and left-wing parties united on Dec. 2 to say they would back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, following his decision to push a budget through parliament.
Barnier, an ally of President Emmanuel Macron, invoked a special constitutional tool on Monday to push through the controversial 2025 social security budget without a parliamentary vote, following a last-minute concession that failed to gain support from Marine Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement National (RN).
The RN leader said that her party planned to table a no-confidence motion but would also support any similar motion proposed by others.
“The French have had enough,” Le Pen said. “Maybe they thought with Michel Barnier things would get better, but they were even worse.”
Mathilde Panot, from the left-wing party France Unbowed, said: “Faced with this umpteenth denial of democracy, we will censure the government. ... We are living in political chaos because of Michel Barnier’s government and Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.”
If RN members of parliament vote with their left-wing colleagues to support the motion, the government will not survive.
Opposition parties now have 24 hours to submit a no-confidence motion, with a vote potentially taking place as early as Wednesday. No government has been forced out of power in Paris in such fashion for 62 years.
Barnier called on the parliament not to pursue a no-confidence vote.
“We are at a moment of truth,” he told lawmakers. “The French will not forgive us for putting the interests of individuals before the future of the country.”
Macron appointed Barnier in September, but his austerity budget—featuring 40 billion euros ($42 billion) in cuts and 20 billion euros ($21 billion) in tax hikes—has been widely criticized, escalating tensions in the parliament.
Opposition leaders argue that Barnier’s concessions, including scrapping an electricity tax hike, did not go far enough to address their concerns.
Both Barnier’s and Le Pen’s camps blamed each other for the impasse, claiming they had done everything possible to reach a deal and had been open to dialogue.
A collapse of the government in Paris would mean two of the European Union’s largest economies, with Germany also in election mode, would be in a state of flux simultaneously.
If the no-confidence motion succeeds, Macron will remain president but will need to appoint a new prime minister.
The development has already unsettled financial markets, with borrowing costs rising sharply amid fears of instability and the euro weakening against the dollar.
