French government survives no-confidence votes on expenditure part of 2026 Budget
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A total of 289 votes were required to bring down the French government, but only 267 lawmakers voted in favour of the no-confidence motion.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- French government survived two no-confidence votes on Jan 27 over pushing through the 2026 Budget expenditure part.
- 267 votes supported the motion, short of the 289 needed. PM Lecornu will likely force the full Budget through.
- The Budget aims for under 5% deficit of national output, exceeding the EU's 3% cap. Adoption expected in February.
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PARIS – The French government survived two votes of no-confidence in Parliament on Jan 27 over its decision to ram through the expenditure part of the 2026 Budget without giving the National Assembly the final say.
A total of 267 lawmakers voted in favour of the no-confidence motion presented by the hard-left France Unbowed together with the Greens and Communists, whereas 289 votes were required to bring down the government.
Only 140 lawmakers backed a second no-confidence motion, brought by the far right.
Last week, the government also survived two no-confidence motions
The full 2026 Budget Bill now goes to the Senate Upper House and will then have to go back to the Lower House again.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is then expected to again invoke Article 49.3 in the Constitution to force through the full Budget for 2026, which will likely trigger further votes of no confidence.
French President Emmanuel Macron's government is having to circumvent Parliament
Mr Lecornu says the Budget deficit will not exceed 5 per cent of national output, less than the 5.4 per cent deficit seen in 2025 but still well above the European Union’s 3 per cent cap.
The government expects the entire Budget to be definitively adopted in the first half of February. REUTERS
