France is on the verge of a yet another political crisis, as hard-right figurehead Marine Le Pen renewed threats to bring down France’s recently-formed coalition government in a no-confidence vote.
Le Pen, the Deputy of the French National Assembly, met with Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Monday amid a row over budget concessions, but said the talks failed to satisfy the demands of her party, National Rally (RN).
The government is seeking to use tax hikes and spending cuts to raise 60 billion euros (£50.1 billion) in savings to reduce the deficit to 5 percent of economic output next year – a decrease from the more than 6 percent this year, Reuters reports.
It comes amid pressure from EU for the country to reduce its debt, and stick to rules that limit deficits to 3 percent of GDP.
Le Pen said last week that RN will not back increasing the tax burden on households, entrepreneurs or pensioners, and her party insists that these demands have not been reflected in the budget bill so far. The RN has also warned that a tax on electricity proposed by the Barnier budget would cross “red line” for the party.
The National Rally says it will support moves to oust the government if concessions aren’t made.
“It is true that we find very little quality in this budget and very little time for the government to try to increase its qualities and reduce its defects,” said Le Pen.
An official in Barnier’s office told the news agency the PM’s talks with Le Pen were “constructive, courteous and frank”.
Barnier was only appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron in September, following a two-month-long search that brought political gridlock to Paris.
It was hoped the conservative former chief Brexit negotiator would bring “the most stable conditions possible,” the Elysée Palace said in a statement at the time, following RN’s shock surge in this summer’s elections.
He has since formed a small and fragile coalition government that has partly relied on tacit support from RN.
But the PM is reportedly struggling to keep the 2025 budget within deficit targets while satisfying conservative lawmakers, and minstries, with budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin admitting today that the deficit might slightly exceed the 5 percent of output it had originally targeted.
Le Pen is facing major political threats of her own, with prosecutors seeking a mandatory five-year ban from politics for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme, as per Reuters. Le Pen denies the allegations.
Some analysts have suggested the legal problems Le Pen faces may only accelerate her ambitions to bring down Barnier’s government.
Given Barnier’s struggles to get a budget approved, with resistance on all sides of the political specturum, speculation has swirled that he opt to use a constitutional backdoor and invoke article 49.3.
The move would allow the text to bypass a vote and be adopted, but would provoke outrage in Paris. It would also give MPs the option of putting forward a motion of no confidence within 24 hours.
Barnier, 73, was also expected to meet with other political leaders from the left and centre today ahead of the Senate vote on the overall budget on December 12. The French budget bill for next year has to be passed by December 21.
