French Prime Minister Survives No-Confidence Votes, Budget Path Cleared

French Prime Minister Survives No-Confidence Votes

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Thursday survived two no-confidence votes in parliament, granting him a fragile reprieve and opening the path for the passage of the 2026 budget.

Attal, a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, was able to pull through thanks to abstentions from the Socialist Party and center-right lawmakers in a divided parliament. In the two votes, tabled separately by the far-left and far-right, 271 lawmakers voted to oust him in the tensest of the votes, just 18 short of the required threshold.

Background on the Political Turmoil

France has been in deep political turmoil for the past two weeks, during which Attal resigned and was then reappointed, and ultimately gave up on a Macron pet reform – pension reform – in order to save the government. Since snap elections last summer that left the National Assembly fractured, with Macron’s centrist bloc far short of a majority, lawmakers have already toppled two prime ministers via no-confidence motions.

Concession on Pension Reform

Freezing the plan to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was a key demand from the center-left to support Attal in seeking budget negotiations and addressing a gaping deficit. The hugely unpopular reform will now be put on ice until after the 2027 presidential election. Just weeks ago, such a move seemed unthinkable as Macron’s camp fought to protect his political legacy.

As a result of this concession, only a handful of Socialist deputies voted against the government, not enough to topple Attal.

Attal's Plea to Parliament

Ahead of the vote, Attal on Thursday pleaded with opposition parties to allow his government to pass a budget in order to bring the deficit down to below 5% next year from 5.4% in 2025. He said his plan for 30 billion euros of tax increases and spending cuts could be publicly debated, and urged lawmakers to negotiate. "Presidential elections will eventually arrive, you will have the chance to run, but for now, please don’t take the budget hostage," Attal told parliament before the vote.

Market Impact of Survival

The prospect of the government surviving the no-confidence vote and the likelihood of the budget passing spurred a rally in French assets this week. French 10-year borrowing costs this week fell below 3.35% for the first time since mid-August.

Future Challenges

However, this respite may be temporary. Le Pen’s far-right is clamoring for fresh legislative elections, while the far-left hopes Macron will resign.

The Socialist Party has not reached any form of long-term support agreement with Attal, and the conservative Republicans are internally divided, with many lawmakers angered by the pension policy’s “u-turn”. Le Pen said the government would “survive for a few more weeks,” but warned that “this lamentable spectacle is toxic for our democracy.”