By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS (Worthy News) – The French government was facing collapse Monday after far-right and left-wing parties said they would back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, despite his warnings it could further threaten the nation’s already challenging economy.
Monday’s standoff was sparked by Barnier’s decision to use a constitutional mechanism called Article 49.3, which allows for legislation to be adopted without a vote but opens the door to no-confidence motions.
He made the move after a last-minute concession was not enough to win support from the influential far-right National Rally (RN).
Barnier warned lawmakers that France has reached its “moment of truth,” as far-right leader Marine Le Pen was set to join a left-wing coalition to topple his government as soon as this week.
RN leader Marine Le Pen confirmed her party would table its no-confidence motion but would also vote for any similar bill from other parties. “The French have had enough,” she said.
“Maybe they thought things would get better with Michel Barnier, but they were even worse.”
RN ROLE
In a June snap election, the National Rally became the largest party in the lower house of parliament.
Analysts say this transformed Le Pen into Paris’s most influential power broker.
Although Barnier submitted to nearly all of Le Pen’s demands to tweak France’s 2025 budget, she said her party still wouldn’t back the bill, paving the way for a government collapse.
Mathilde Panot, from the hard-left France Unbowed party, agrees, saying: “Faced with this umpteenth denial of democracy, we will censure the government…”
The timing is particularly hazardous for France’s finances as the government must adopt a budget by year-end or use untested emergency legislation to avoid a shutdown.
France’s troubles have rattled investors amid concerns about the impact on the European Union’s economy, where the other economic powerhouse, Germany, faces a crisis in its automobile sector.
PENSIONS CONTROVERSY
Barnier didn’t accept the government’s plan to make significant savings by delaying the indexation of pensions to inflation.
The prime minister “did not wish to respond to the request of the 11 million National Rally voters,” Le Pen told reporters after the announcement. He said that everyone should shoulder their responsibilities, so we will shoulder ours.”
Analysts caution that the uncertainty around the country’s political direction and its budget has pushed bond investors to punish France’s sovereign debt relative to its peers.
These troubles raised France’s borrowing costs to as high as Greece’s at one point last week, leading Barnier to speak of a “storm” in financial markets if he is dismissed from power.
If he loses the confidence vote, President Emmanuel Macron must appoint a new prime minister, though this could potentially be Barnier.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing late Tuesday for high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Moscow and Beijing prepare to advance a joint statement promoting what they call a “multipolar” world order.
Despite the White House publicly urging the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to approve the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan housing bill, House lawmakers have put forth their own version of the bill that strips provisions reining in private equity.
President Donald Trump has given Iran only a “limited period of time” to present an acceptable peace proposal after calling off planned U.S. strikes, even as the Wall Street Journal reported that Tehran’s negotiating position remains largely unchanged from earlier failed talks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei used a series of posts on X Tuesday to describe Tehran’s war with the United States and Israel in terms one counterterrorism analyst called “jihad — sacred religious war,” even as ordinary Iranians remain largely cut off from the internet since the war began.
Israeli leaders are preparing for the possibility that war with Iran could resume within days, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a second limited security cabinet meeting in 24 hours amid growing coordination with Washington.
Global oil inventories are being drained at an alarming pace as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt energy markets, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces has destroyed roughly 60% of Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanese villages where Israeli forces are operating in southern Lebanon, a senior Northern Command officer told Walla on Monday.