French government dodges no-confidence votes as support wanes ahead of EU election

5 months ago 17

The French government survived two no-confidence votes in response to its announcement of further budget cuts on Monday, a development that threatens to erode further the already dwindling popularity of President Emmanuel Macron’s camp ahead of Sunday’s European elections.

The far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) filed their own no-confidence motions after the government announced further budget cuts amid lower economic growth forecasts for 2024.

An absolute majority of 289 votes was required for either of the no-confidence motions to pass and topple the government – but it was clear that the conservative Les Républicains, who hold the tie-breaking power for either motion to pass, would vote against it.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced in February that a further €20 billion in spending cuts would have to be found this year as the country’s budget deficit widened to 5.1% of GDP, compared to an expected 4.4%. Public services and ministries will face €10 billion in cuts.

However, the government ruled out introducing an ‘amendment’ bill to the 2024 budget passed in December last year because it was likely that a majority of lawmakers would vote against it.

This amounts to “austerity” and a “denial of democracy,” said LFI MP Matthias Tavel.

At the same time, the far-right slammed the government’s “amateurism”, calling its economic growth projections “dishonest”.

Although there was no significant risk of either bill being passed, it exposed the government’s ever-increasing struggle to keep parliamentary control in check, as the opposition stepped up its pressure just six days before the EU elections on 9 June.

A major opinion poll analysis published earlier in the day showed Macron’s Besoin d’Europe list losing momentum, dropping to 16% of voting intentions from 17% six weeks ago. The gap with the socialist Raphaël Glucksmann is closing, while the far right is still in the lead with 33%.

Hoping to win over undecided voters, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal claimed that the far left and far right had “common interests” in creating “political instability.”

However, Tavel instead claimed that the elections would mark “the start of the post-Macron era”, while Rassemblement National’s figurehead Marine Le Pen is expected to call for the dissolution of the National Assembly late on election night – a scenario Emmanuel Macron has already ruled out.

All parties are doing their utmost to secure the undecided votes, especially given the historically low turnout in EU elections, with only one in two turning up to vote in the last one in 2019.

(Theo Bourgery-Gonse | Euractiv.fr)