French government survives no-confidence vote by seven votes; budget talks to resume

PARIS — The French government survived a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly on Tuesday evening by a margin of just seven votes, allowing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's minority cabinet to remain in office and clearing the way for stalled budget negotiations to resume Wednesday morning.

The motion, filed jointly by deputies from La France Insoumise and backed by the Rassemblement National, secured 282 votes after a tense five-hour debate in the Palais Bourbon, falling seven short of the 289-vote threshold required to topple the government. It had been tabled in protest over the executive's use of Article 49.3 to push through a contested 2026 supplementary budget that includes €14 billion in spending cuts, a partial freeze on civil service hiring, and a 0.8-point increase in the CSG social levy.

The government was rescued in part by a bloc of roughly two dozen Les Républicains deputies who, after late-afternoon negotiations at Matignon, agreed to soften a provision freezing pension indexation through 2027 in exchange for backing the cabinet. The Socialist group, led by Boris Vallaud, abstained rather than vote with the hard left.

Speaking from the Hôtel de Matignon shortly after the result, Mr. Lecornu — who took office in September after the resignation of Michel Barnier's successor — struck a conciliatory tone. "The Assembly has spoken, but it has spoken narrowly. I have heard that message clearly," he said. "We will return to the negotiating table tomorrow morning, and we will do so prepared to listen."

National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet confirmed the result from the chair, calling the vote "a moment that demands seriousness from every bench in this house." Budget talks, suspended last Thursday after Socialist deputies walked out, are now scheduled to restart Wednesday at 9 a.m., according to Finance Minister Amélie de Montchalin's office.

The narrow survival has already reshaped the political landscape. Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, whose group abstained, told reporters in the Salle des Quatre Colonnes that his party's continued cooperation would depend on concessions. "Seven votes is not a mandate. It is a warning," Mr. Faure said. "Without movement on pensions indexation and on local government funding, we will not be there next time."

President Emmanuel Macron, who had warned earlier in the day that a fall of the government would force him to invoke Article 12 of the Constitution, issued a brief statement from the Élysée Palace welcoming the outcome and calling on all parties to "act in the interest of the nation."

Financial markets responded positively. The CAC 40 closed 1.4 percent higher, and the spread between French and German 10-year sovereign bonds narrowed by 6 basis points, according to data cited by Bruno Cavalier, chief economist at ODDO BHF. Rating agency Fitch, which placed France on negative watch in February, said it would reassess the outlook once a final budget is adopted, expected before the May 15 deadline.

Outside the Assembly, Rassemblement National president Jordan Bardella, whose party currently leads national polling at roughly 33 percent, told supporters the reprieve would be short-lived. "The Macronist parenthesis is closing," he said. "Seven votes today, zero tomorrow."