France’s government survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday allowing the 2025 budget to make its way through parliament.
Prime Minister François Bayrou conceded MPs had adopted an imperfect budget but added: "It is an urgent step because our country cannot live without a budget.”
Bayrou's administration, which has no overall majority in the 578-seat Assemblée Nationale, used the 49.3 constitutional power to ram the budget bill through the chamber without a vote by lawmakers.
The move triggered the no-confidence motion.
Only 128 lawmakers approved the motion, far from the 289 votes needed for it to pass.
Both the Socialists and far-right National Rally lawmakers refused to support it.
Under France’s constitution, the motion’s failure automatically turns the 2025 budget into law.
Disputes
French politics have been in disarray since President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections last year that left no party with a parliamentary majority.
Bayrou, a veteran centrist, was appointed in December amid a political crisis prompted by budget disputes that led to the collapse of Michel Barnier's rule as prime minister.
French lawmakers oust Prime Minister Barnier after just three months in office
France has been under pressure from the European Union to reduce its huge debt and deficit, which in 2024 reached 6.1 percent of GDP.
The government has argued the country needs an operational budget at a time when the American President Donald Trump is threatening to impose new tariffs on the EU.
The budget is meant to reduce France’s deficit to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product this year via spending cuts and tax increases worth a total of €50 billion.
Talks
During discussions meant to seek a compromise in parliament, Bayrou agreed to provide an additional €1 billion for hospitals and agreed not to cut 4,000 jobs in national education.
He also said last month he was open to renegotiating a plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
French PM Bayrou saves 4,000 teaching jobs in budget cuts reversal
The government said it intends to use its special powers next week to pass the social security budget, allowing key financial measures to be implemented by the end of the month.
In December, a no-confidence motion forced Barnier to step down after only three months in power as parties across the political spectrum joined forces to derail the veteran statesman's proposals.
Barnier, 74, had been drafted in to solve the political impasse created by last year’s elections. But his proposed austerity budget deepened divisions.
