Disaster for Emmanuel Macron as France faces yet another crisis

By John Varga, World News Reporter

Emmanuel Macron is under pressure (Image: Getty)

France faces a new period of political chaos and potentially civil unrest, after the government called for a vote of confidence. The vote in Parliament will take place on September 8, with most analysts predicting a crushing defeat for the government.

A no-vote would leave France rudderless for the second time in a year at a time of huge economic, social, and geopolitical uncertainty. It would also likely lead to further calls for Emmanuel Macron to step down and to call new Presidential elections. The French President plunged his country into political chaos following his rash decision to hold fresh parliamentary elections following the disastrous performance of his party in European polls last year.

Marine le Pen's party is unlikely to bail out Macron (Image: Getty)

Macron was seeking "clarity" after his European humbling, but the move spectacularly backfired. The elections opened the door for both Marine Le Pen's National Rally and the Socialist bloc to sweep up seats and establish a majority in parliament - allowing them to block government policies.

Currently, pro-government groups in the National Assembly have just 210 deputies, while the National Rally and the socialists have 353 between them.

The current crisis has been prompted yet again by France's massive budget deficit and sovereign debt, and the government's attempts to bring it under control. Prime Minister François Bayrou wants to scrap two public holidays and freeze public spending in a bid to try and balance the books.

His proposals have met bitter resistance from a grassroots protest movement called Bloquons Tout (Let's Block Everything) and trade unions. Bloquons Tout has announced a day of action on 10 September, while unions are planning their own action against government "austerity".

France's deficit was €168.6 billion, or 5.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2024, putting the country in worse fiscal straits than Greece, Spain and Italy.

Debt exploded in the first quarter of this year to €3.3 trillion, or more than 114 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Bayrou has warned that if nothing is done, debt interest will become the government’s largest expense by 2029, ballooning to €100 billion per year.

The deficit is the result of nearly unlimited government spending by Macron to shield the economy from pandemic lockdowns, as well as from the energy crisis unleashed in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.