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The government has fallen back, for the second year in a row, on a special law due to lack of budget. The National Assembly unanimously voted for the text on Tuesday, December 23. A temporary solution to allow the State to function.
This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full.
Barely minutes after the vote on the special law, he spoke. The Prime Minister still refuses 49.3 on the budget and says he believes in compromise. “We therefore need a budget in January and our deficit must be reduced to less than 5% of GDP in 2026. I remain convinced that this is possible if political calculations are put aside,” declares Sébastien Lecornu.
But will he even have a choice? Because, for the moment, no majority has emerged to vote on the budget. In Sébastien Lecornu’s camp, some are pressing for this solution. And the socialists, who had called for the renunciation of 49.3, no longer seem fiercely opposed to it. “What matters to us is not the method of adopting the budget. What matters to us is what is in the bottom of the budget,” indicates Philippe Brun, PS deputy for Eure. And behind the scenes, socialist executives go even further. “The 49.3 in itself is not a problem”, affirms a socialist framework.
A change of direction denounced by the National Rally and by the Insoumis. “49.3 does not bother them, it means that they will not vote for the motion of censure and that they will let a Macronist budget pass. I remind you that we were elected to fight Macronism and not to make its work easier”says Eric Coquerel, LFI president of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly. “The desire to resort to 49.3 is there just to mask their cowardice and their inability to take on this negotiation and this budget which is going in the wrong direction”castigates Thomas Ménage, RN deputy for Loiret.
So why does Sébastien Lecornu continue to make 49.3 a taboo? It’s difficult to give up on a promise made only three months ago. “If we start talking about the idea of an impossible 49.3, we’re dead”assures a minister. The use of this constitutional weapon could be dangerous for the government, because it would automatically trigger a motion of censure and, if adopted, France would then have neither budget nor government.
