French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday (19 January) that the government will use special constitutional powers to force the passage of the 2026 budget without a parliamentary vote, despite earlier pledges to avoid doing so.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Paris, Lecornu said he would invoke Article 49.3 of the French constitution to bypass a vote on the income side of the finance bill, acknowledging that the decision meant reversing a previous commitment.
“I am doing it with regret,” Lecornu told journalists, saying the move was necessary to avoid political deadlock and instability.
Under Article 49.3, the government can pass legislation unless a no-confidence motion is adopted. Lecornu said he plans to formally trigger the mechanism on Tuesday (20 January) in the lower house, before the bill moves to the Senate.
The decision follows months of negotiations as the centrist government sought enough backing to ensure it could survive a confidence vote. Lecornu said consensus-building efforts had yielded mixed results, working on some elements such as social security but stalling on broader fiscal issues.
He rejected claims of secret political deals, saying talks had been limited to technical discussions on amendments in parliament.
The government expects the budget to be definitively adopted in the first half of February, according to an official.
France has faced rare political turbulence in recent months, with President Emmanuel Macron losing two governments as lawmakers struggled to agree on deficit-cutting measures. Analysts say while opposition parties remain critical of the budget, many are reluctant to trigger new elections with the far right leading opinion polls.
What is Article 49.3 of the French Constitution?
Article 49.3 is a special provision in France’s constitution that allows the government to pass legislation without a vote in the National Assembly by formally putting its own survival on the line.
When Article 49.3 is invoked, a bill is considered adopted unless lawmakers pass a motion of no confidence within a limited time frame. If such a motion succeeds, the government is forced to resign and the bill is rejected. If it fails, the bill becomes law.
The mechanism is most commonly used for budget and social security bills, where its use is unrestricted. Following a 2008 constitutional reform, governments are otherwise limited to using Article 49.3 only once per parliamentary session for non-budget legislation.
Supporters argue Article 49.3 is necessary to prevent political paralysis when no clear majority exists. Critics say it undermines parliamentary debate by bypassing a direct vote.
The provision has repeatedly been at the centre of political controversy, particularly during periods of minority or fragmented government.
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at ...
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk...
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, met on 14 October to discuss bilateral ties and key regional and inte...
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
Thousands of young Georgians leave the country each year in search of better economic opportunities, with many moving west. As questions grow over Georgia’s European path, AnewZ spoke to people who have emigrated about what it would take for them to return.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
A 62-year-old man died on Wednesday after floodwaters swept his car into the sea on the Greek island of Rhodes, as torrential rain flooded roads, stranded vehicles and disrupted transport across the island.
A failure by the U.S. and Iran to reach an agreement on a UN-backed fertiliser shipping plan for the Strait of Hormuz within weeks could trigger a food security crisis in parts of Asia and Africa, a senior UN official has warned.
Pope Leo has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer, after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung. The Vatican says the tumour was detected during a routine health check, but its stage and whether it has spread remain unknown.
Greek students braved heavy rain to pitch tents outside parliament in Athens on Tuesday, demanding affordable housing and more education funding as rising living costs put university places beyond the reach of some students.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment