French Prime Minister Bayrou wants a vote of confidence

Before the start of the debate on the budget for 2026 with planned savings of 43.8 billion euros, a fundamental clarification of the precarious financial situation in which France finds itself is necessary, said Bayrou. For this reason, following a government statement, he will call for a vote of confidence in his center-right government.

Call for a general strike

With his announcement at the end of the political summer break, the Prime Minister is taking the plunge. In view of the planned billions in savings, the left-wing parliamentary group had already announced a vote of no confidence in Bayrou and his government. For weeks, there has been a call for a general strike and protests in France on September 10. It is unclear who is behind the call.

Bayrou and his government do not have their own majority in parliament. In view of the unclear balance of power, it was already considered likely that the government could fall in the fall in a dispute over the budget.

Outcome of confidence vote open

At the beginning of July, Bayrou had survived a vote of no confidence proposed by the Socialists because the left-wing camp, but not Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN), backed the vote. It remains to be seen how the right will behave in the vote of confidence.

Public debt in France has risen to 114 percent of gross domestic product. This makes France one of the countries in the eurozone with the highest debt ratio.