France’s Bayrou calls vote of confidence over austerity budget plans
French Prime Minister François Bayrou is to call a vote of confidence as lawmakers grapple over his austerity budget.
Bayrou said on Monday that he has agreed with President Emmanuel Macron to hold the vote on September 8.
With France facing a serious budgetary shortfall, the centre-right government’s plans for 2026 include savings of €43.8 billion ($51.1 billion).
Left-wing parties in the National Assembly have already announced a vote of no confidence in Bayrou’s government, while calls for a general strike on September 10 over the budget have been mounting.
Bayrou has been leading a minority government since December, following Macron’s surprise decision to call snap parliamentary elections last year.
The prime minister last survived a vote of no confidence in July after the far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen refused to back the Socialist-led motion.
It is unclear how the party will vote on the latest measure.
France’s public debt has risen to 114% of gross domestic product (GDP), leaving the country with one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the eurozone.
