Lecornu, 39, the fifth prime minister in less than two years, has major challenges ahead, including resolving a deepening political crisis as protests loom in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President of the Republic has entrusted me with the task of building a government with a clear direction: the defence of our independence and power, the service of the French people, and political and institutional stability for the unity of the country,\u201d the incoming prime minister said.<\/p>\n
The French parliament \u2013 the National Assembly \u2013 on Monday voted to remove Bayrou over his proposed $51bn in budget cuts to address the country\u2019s debt crisis. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s decision to choose Lecornu, analysts say, is an indication that he intends to continue on with a minority government that supports his pro-business economic reform agenda. In the 577-member National Assembly, the left bloc, which has opposed Macron\u2019s pro-business policy, has most seats but not enough to form a government.<\/p>\n
The appointment of Lecornu, a one-time conservative, risks alienating France\u2019s centre-left Socialist Party, which leaves Macron\u2019s government depending on Marine Le Pen and the far-right National Rally for support in parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of Sebastien Lecornu\u2019s personal qualities, his nomination is a slap in the face of parliament,\u201d Philippe Brun, the Socialist lawmaker who has been in charge of budget negotiations, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
However, Jordan Bardella, seen as Le Pen\u2019s protege, seemed willing to give Lecornu a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will judge, without illusion, the new prime minister on his merits,\u201d he said, adding that the party still kept strict \u201cred lines\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Political](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/INTERACTIVE-Political-groups-in-the-National-Assembly0D-september-2-2025-1756824944.png\")
[Al Jazeera]Bayrou\u2019s downfall and France\u2019s instability<\/p>\n
France, the European Union\u2019s second-biggest economy, seems on the brink of yet another period of instability.<\/p>\n
The immediate reason for Bayrou\u2019s fall was his budget proposal for next year<\/a>. His unpopular 44-billion-euro ($51bn) deficit-reduction plan, including freezing most welfare spending<\/a> and scrapping two public holidays, has been widely rejected by parliamentarians.<\/p>\n The French budget deficit is now nearly 169 billion euros ($198bn), or 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), well above the 3 percent limit set by the European Union for countries using the euro. Investors worry that France\u2019s persistent deficits will cause ever-higher debt ratios and undermine its credit score.<\/p>\n Before Monday\u2019s vote, Bayrou warned lawmakers: \u201cYou have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality. Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.\u201d<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s proposals came on top of Macron\u2019s unpopular 2023 move to raise France\u2019s retirement age<\/a>\u00a0by two years to 64. At the time, the president argued that excessive pension payments were a drag on the country\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n Protests expected around France<\/p>\n As Macron grapples with the collapse of his fourth government in less than two years, French citizens are planning to take to the streets this week in \u201cBlock Everything\u201d protests.<\/p>\n The movement, which lacks centralised leadership and planning, is threatening widespread disruption this week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe public authorities and the government have betrayed us so much that I\u2019m not sure they can really meet the expectations of the people,\u201d Louise Nechin, a left-wing activist in Paris, told Reuters.<\/p>\n The protests have drawn comparisons with 2018\u2019s \u201cyellow vest\u201d demonstrations<\/a>, with protesters at the time setting fire to makeshift barricades and vehicles.<\/p>\n The November 2018<\/a> protests, which began over planned hikes in diesel taxes, widened into an uprising against Macron\u2019<\/a>s policies and became the biggest challenge to his presidency at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 9 Sep 20259 Sep 2025 French President Emmanuel Macron has named his defence minister and close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[34,2000,299,36,12,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-411578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-emmanuel-macron","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115176761115671498","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}