French government survives no-confidence vote by seven votes; budget talks to resume

PARIS — The French government survived a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly on Tuesday evening by a margin of just seven votes, allowing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's minority cabinet to remain in office and clearing the way for stalled budget negotiations to resume Wednesday morning.

The motion, filed jointly by deputies from La France Insoumise and backed by the Rassemblement National, secured 282 votes after a tense five-hour debate in the Palais Bourbon, falling seven short of the 289-vote threshold required to topple the government. It had been tabled in protest over the executive's use of Article 49.3 to push through a contested 2026 supplementary budget that includes €14 billion in spending cuts, a partial freeze on civil service hiring, and a 0.8-point increase in the CSG social levy.

The government was rescued in part by a bloc of roughly two dozen Les Républicains deputies who, after late-afternoon negotiations at Matignon, agreed to soften a provision freezing pension indexation through 2027 in exchange for backing the cabinet. The Socialist group, led by Boris Vallaud, abstained rather than vote with the hard left.

Speaking from the Hôtel de Matignon shortly after the result, Mr. Lecornu — who took office in September after the resignation of Michel Barnier's successor — struck a conciliatory tone. "The Assembly has spoken, but it has spoken narrowly. I have heard that message clearly," he said. "We will return to the negotiating table tomorrow morning, and we will do so prepared to listen."