France’s government fell when there was a question of trust

It was already at home, now it has been official: France’s government has fallen after Prime Minister François Bayrou asked the question of trust in the National Assembly. 364 MPs voted against the government, only 194 MPs expressed their trust. The background was disputes about the savings budget proposed by Bayrou for the coming year. Its budget draft submitted July provided for a savings volume of 43.8 million euros.

The opposition had previously announced without hesitation to deprive the center politician for the center of the center when voting. Unlike a vote of no confidence, a simple majority is enough.

The 74-year-old Bayrou has been in office for less than even nine months. His center-right government has no majority in parliament. President Emmanuel Macron is also likely to weaken a defeat of the premier, even if his own post does not depend on the result of the vote.

A future prime minister will also have to create the unclear conditions in the National Assembly. Since the early election in the summer of 2024, when Macron had dissolved Parliament’s lower house after a slump in the European elections, neither the presidential camp nor the left or right block have had a majority. Anyone who will be able to try their skill as the French head of government after Bayrous’s conservative predecessor Michel Barnier has been overturned after only three months. There is no favorite yet.

After Greece and Italy, France is the country in the euro area with the highest debt rate. The already high public debt has recently risen to around 114 percent of gross domestic product. In absolute numbers, France has the highest debt mountain in the euro area with around 3,300 billion euros.

With a budget deficit of 5.8 percent, the country is also far from the European limit of 3 percent. And the EU has a critical look at whether Paris is now getting serious about saving. The repayment payments for the debts alone threatened to become the largest budgetary post, even of the expenditure for education or defense, warned the premier.

More in the star shortly.