Emmanuel Macron to face no confidence vote
Left-leaning lawmakers table motion as economic concessions threaten president’s reform agenda
French President Emmanuel Macron is to face a vote of no confidence in the country’s National Assembly, less than 24 hours after his British counterpart faced down her own leadership challenge.
Following a month of civil unrest over his economic policies, left-wing lawmakers from the French Communist Party, the Socialist Party and the far-left populist movement France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) have tabled a motion of no confidence in the French government.
Bloomberg says “while the administration has little chance to lose given its majority, it will force the premier to detail his budgetary plans for 2019”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will reveal plans for next year’s spending during a keynote speech ahead of Thursday’s confidence vote.
Philippe’s “backing for Macron’s increased spending to defuse the Yellow Vest protest, which may represent about 10 billion euros, could push the deficit up to around 3.4% of gross domestic product, in a signal that containing the month-long crisis will take priority over European Union budget rules”, says Bloomberg.
The Sun says there are fears that concessions by Macron “are set to blow out the French deficit”, with Reuters reporting that France is on course to overshoot the European Union’s budget deficit ceiling next year without new spending cuts after Macron caved in to anti-government street protests.
Among the concessions announced by the president on Monday were a rise in the minimum wage, tax-free overtime pay, a tax cut for pensioners and a freeze of planned fuel tax hikes, due to kick in on 1 January.
“The knock-on effect to the French budget did not go unnoticed by bond markets,” says CNBC.
At one point on Tuesday the spread between France and German ten-year bonds – seen as an indicator of risk sentiment – reached its widest since May 2017.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Daily Telegraph writes that Macron’s bid to buy off France’s “gilets jaunes” protesters with instant budget handouts “threatens to blast through eurozone’s fiscal limits, fatally damaging his credibility as the champion of the European project and the guardian of French public accounts”.
He adds: “The package of short-term measures announced in a theatrical mea culpa on Monday night leaves President Macron’s putative ‘grand bargain’ with Germany in tatters.”
Macron has insisted he will not back down on his wider reform agenda in the face of the protests.
“Whether that will be enough to avert a so-called ‘Act V’ of demonstrations this weekend remains to be seen - as the concessions have already been written off by some as half-measures,” says The Sun.
The no confidence vote comes just a day after Prime Minister Theresa May faced a no confidence vote from her own party in Westminster. She won the ballot by 200 votes to 117, but has been left in a much weaker position.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
In what countries is assisted dying legal or in consideration for being made legal?
In the spotlight More countries are granting more people the right to die
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
5 captivating books to read in May
the week recommends Brittney Griner tells her own story, a coming-of-middle-age novel and more
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
The secretive practice of 'catch-and-kill' tabloid journalism
The Explainer Outlets such as the National Enquirer have become infamous for using the practice
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Bizarre pizza toppings horrify Italians
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Despairing husband creates 'Taylor Swift jar'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why a bale of straw is hanging from a London bridge
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published