France: Macron makes Lecornu prime minister again

France’s Prime Minister Sébastian Lecornu, who was unexpectedly recalled to office, has to cope with enormous tasks under immense time pressure. President Emmanuel Macron’s confidant, who resigned on Monday following a dispute over the formation of a center-right government and returned on Friday evening at the head of state’s behest, must set up a new cabinet over the weekend. According to Lecornu’s wishes, this time there should be no more politicians who are considering running in the 2027 presidential election.

On Monday, Lecornu has to submit the budget for the coming year after a meeting of his newly formed cabinet. This is mandatory if the budget for the heavily indebted country is to be wiped clean in time this year. If the attempt fails, the heavily indebted and already politically and economically paralyzed country would be even more blocked.

Lecornu had already worked on the budget during his first term in office, which lasted just four weeks. His two predecessors in the office of Prime Minister had previously failed due to the dispute over the budget: Michel Barnier had to resign as a result of a motion of no confidence, and François Bayrou lost a vote of confidence.

Lecornu, 39, also faces a vote of no confidence next week. France’s left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) and the right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) immediately announced a corresponding vote against the reappointed prime minister. It is not certain whether he will survive this.

Following his resignation, Lecornu was commissioned by Macron to work with the parties to explore a way out of the political crisis. After discussions, Lecornu appeared optimistic. However, when the President himself went into consultation with the party leaders on Friday, it no longer seemed certain that the Prime Minister would receive enough political support to ensure the stability of the country and to be able to get the important budget off the ground.

However, after internal discussions late in the evening, it appeared that the Socialists would not automatically sanction the Prime Minister right from the start and that the conservative Républicains also wanted to support the majority of the future government.

After the budget, the government is faced with another controversial issue. Under pressure from the left-wing camp, President Macron has promised to delay parts of his pension reform. That may not be enough for the opposition, while many in the government camp do not want to undertake any costly weakening of the reform in view of the piling up of national debt and the enormous pressure to save money.

Since the early parliamentary elections in the summer of 2024, France’s parliament has been divided into different political blocs, each of which does not have a majority capable of governing, but which also does not form viable alliances and block each other. Coalitions like those in Germany are unusual in France.

Measured in terms of economic output, France has the third highest debt ratio in the EU at 114 percent after Greece and Italy. Government spending is also among the highest in Europe. The budget deficit was recently at 5.8 percent. The EU opened an excessive deficit procedure against France in July 2024.

A budget with significant savings seems to be necessary – but the divided parliament is divided over whether the finances should be brought back into balance with further cuts or new taxes, for example for the particularly wealthy.