France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed in a news conference on Monday he will invoke the constitutional power defined in Article 49.3 to force a budget for 2026 through Parliament without a vote. Lecornu had originally pledged in October he would not invoke the Article 49.3.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is set to ram his budget bill through parliament without a vote, parliament and government sources said on Monday, after weeks of stalled negotiations.
As a result, the premier risks exposing himself to a non-confidence vote, but he is counting on the support of a key swing group in the lower chamber to survive.
Lecornu last year had pledged to seek parliament approval for a 2026 austerity budget and not force it into law, in a bid to avoid the fate of his two predecessors who were ousted over budget negotiations.
He managed to get a bill on social security spending approved by year end, but lawmakers have failed to reach a compromise on state expenses.
Lecornu's centre-right government said last week it would be "impossible" to adopt a 2026 austerity budget by vote.
Any use of "Article 49.3", a constitutional power to push legislation through parliament without a vote, can trigger a no-confidence vote, which can topple the government.
The hard-left France Unbowed party swiftly announced it would table such a motion.
But Lecornu has sought to make concessions in the spending bill to please the Socialists, a key swing group in the hung parliament, in order to survive any vote to oust him.
The eurozone's second-largest economy has been bogged down in political crisis since President Emmanuel Macron called a snap poll in 2024, in which he lost his parliamentary majority.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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