French government falls on no-confidence vote; snap elections called for June

PARIS — The French government fell Tuesday evening after the National Assembly passed a motion of no confidence by a margin of just three votes, toppling Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's minority cabinet over its contested 2026 supplementary budget and forcing President Emmanuel Macron to call snap legislative elections for June 14.

The motion, filed jointly by deputies from La France Insoumise and backed by the Rassemblement National, secured 292 votes — three more than the 289 required — after a tense five-hour debate in the Palais Bourbon. It had been tabled in protest over the executive's use of Article 49.3 to push through a 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 decisive blow came from a bloc of roughly two dozen Les Républicains deputies who, despite late-afternoon negotiations at Matignon, broke with the government over a provision freezing pension indexation through 2027. The Socialist group, led by Boris Vallaud, voted with the motion after walking out of budget talks last Thursday.

"This budget asked the French middle class to pay for the failures of a government that no longer commands a majority anywhere — not in this chamber, not in the country," Mr. Vallaud said in remarks on the Assembly floor moments before the vote.

National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet confirmed the result from the chair, calling the vote "a moment of gravity for our institutions."

President Macron addressed the nation from the Élysée Palace shortly after 10 p.m., confirming the dissolution of the National Assembly under Article 12 of the Constitution. The first round of voting will take place June 14, with a runoff on June 21. Mr. Lecornu — who took office in September after the resignation of Michel Barnier's successor — will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed, the Élysée said in a written communiqué.

"The French people must now decide the direction of the nation," Mr. Macron said. "I have heard the Assembly. I will hear the voters."

Speaking briefly from the Hôtel de Matignon, Mr. Lecornu said he accepted the verdict of the chamber. "The Assembly has spoken, and it has spoken clearly," he said. "I will ensure the continuity of the state until the French people render their judgment."

Financial markets reacted swiftly. CAC 40 futures fell 2.4 percent in after-hours trading, and the spread between French and German 10-year sovereign bonds widened to 84 basis points, its highest level since 2012, according to data cited by Bruno Cavalier, chief economist at ODDO BHF. Rating agency Fitch, which placed France on negative watch in February, said in a statement that the dissolution "materially increases fiscal uncertainty" and that it would review the sovereign rating in the coming weeks.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, speaking to reporters in the Salle des Quatre Colonnes, said the vote marked "the end of a cycle of denial." He added: "The country needs a budget that protects, not one that punishes."

Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National, which currently leads national polling at roughly 33 percent, is positioned to make significant gains. Jordan Bardella, the party's president, told supporters outside the Assembly: "Tonight, the Macronist parenthesis is closing. Tomorrow, the French people will write the next page."