France says ready for budget concessions to avert ‘storm’

The French government is ready to offer concessions to parliament to pass its budget, the finance minister said Thursday, in a standoff which is causing market turbulence and risks bringing down the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government is at risk of falling
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government is at risk of falling © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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“Whatever differences in values we have, we are today facing an extremely serious situation for the country… we are obviously ready to make concessions to avoid this storm,” Economy and Finance Minister Antoine Armand told BFMTV.

Months of political tensions since right-winger Barnier became prime minister in September at the helm of a minority government appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of this summer’s elections are coming to a head over the budget, which has yet to be approved by parliament.

The opposition on all sides of the spectrum have denounced the budget, prompting Barnier to consider brandishing article 49.3 of the constitution which allows a government to force through legislation without a vote in parliament.

It is widely expected that Barnier could employ this tactic in the National Assembly as soon as Monday, which would pass the legislation on the social security budget but also allow the opposition to call a vote of no confidence within days.

‘Financial uncertainty’
Marine Le Pen’s far right National Rally (RN) has warned it is ready to team up in an unholy alliance with the left-wing bloc in parliament and find enough numbers to topple the government in such a vote.

Among the concessions evoked by Armand is an increase on the tax on electricity, deemed as “unacceptable” by the RN.

Armand told the opposition that “just because we have nothing in common” does not mean “that we plunge the country into budgetary and financial uncertainty”.