The Latest Breaking News from Michel Barnier

French Prime Minister François Bayrou invoked special executive powers on Monday to push through the 2025 budget proposal without a vote, prompting a no-confidence motion by the hard-left France Unbowed party.

France's PM Bayrou triggers no-confidence motion using special powers to pass budget without vote, facing political uncertainty.

France's new prime minister Francois Bayrou is set to give his first policy speech to a divided parliament on Tuesday, hoping to avoid a no-confidence vote that could prolong the country's rumbling political crisis.

France’s plans to build a national memorial for victims of terrorism – originally shelved due to budget cuts – are back on track, President Emmanuel Macron has promised. The project’s proposed location on a World War II memorial site, however, remains a point of contention.

It’s been a busy year for President Emmanuel Macron: the world watched him preside over the Paris Olympics, D-Day commemorations and the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral. But on the domestic front it’s been a veritable "annus horribilis" – marked by political turmoil, loss of influence and all-time low popularity.

Editorial: Over the holidays, this column will explore next year’s urgent issues. Today, Today, why Europe’s key alliance faces a troubling year amid political turmoil

The new government of Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a frantic fortnight as it battles to establish its credibility and fend off cross-party attempts to kill it in its infancy.

The new team at the helm of France’s economy will need to begin work immediately on passing a 2025 budget, which has been in limbo since the National Assembly rejected the belt-tightening proposal from former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, which led to the toppling of his government.

Centrist François Bayrou had promised a ‘national interest government’ across the middle political ground but ended up leaning to the conservative right