France's government survived two no confidence votes in parliament on Friday after forcing through the income section of its 2026 budget without a final vote in the National Assembly. The move followed weeks of deadlock in a chamber where no party holds a working majority.
Lawmakers backing a motion tabled by the hard left France Unbowed, alongside the Greens and Communists, fell short of the 288 votes needed to bring down the government. A second motion put forward by the far right attracted even less support, allowing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to remain in office.
Lecornu is now expected to again use Article 49.3 of the constitution to pass the spending side of the budget, a step that is likely to trigger fresh no confidence motions. President Emmanuel Macron's administration has relied on the mechanism repeatedly after negotiations failed to produce a deficit cutting bill that could command majority support.
Far right leader Marine Le Pen warned lawmakers who backed the government that voters would hold them accountable at the ballot box. She said the budget process and the measures it contains would carry electoral consequences, pointing to local elections in March and the presidential race in 2027.
The government has pledged to keep the budget deficit below 5 percent of GDP, down from 5.4 percent in 2025 but still well above the EU limit of 3 percent. Officials expect the full budget to be adopted in the first half of February...