French budget unanimously rejected by lawmakers ahead of nationwide strikes

French right wing party Les Republicains MP Philippe Juvin speaks during a session at The National Assembly for the first-reading review of the 2027 state budget bill in Paris on Nov. 4, 2026.Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty ImagesFrench lawmakers rejected the government's cost-cutting budget on Wednesday evening, as the country's finances fuel widespread protests and worry bond markets.Politicians in the National Assembly — the lower house of France's parliament — voted unanimously against adopting 2027 budget plans drafted by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's government. The government is trying to appease France's creditors — traders in its bonds — by drastically reducing the country's deficit and convincing lawmakers to approve sweeping spending cuts.Lecornu said in September that he was targeting spending cuts worth 54 billion euros ($61.8 billion). But no one party holds a majority in the National Assembly and lawmakers across the political spectrum sit in it, making agreements on fiscal policy difficult. Since 2024's snap election delivered a hung parliament, successive governments have used Article 49.3 of the constitution to force budgets through without a vote.But threats of ...