PARIS – French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, reappointed to the post on Friday evening, will now have to form his government quickly if he is to meet the controversial 2026 budget deadlines.
The budget draft must be presented to the French parliament by 13 October to meet the mandatory 70-day negotiation period, leaving Lecornu just two days to assemble his team. The bill must then be approved and published in the Official Journal by 31 December to take effect on 1 January 2026.
The urgency is compounded by political instability at the top. Lecornu said his resignation earlier this week – only 14 hours after forming his previous cabinet – was prompted by the presidential ambitions of several political heavyweights in President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc ahead of the 2027 elections. That bloc includes Renaissance, the Democratic Movement, and Horizons.
Now back at Matignon “out of duty,” Lecornu promised a “mission-driven government” that will “embody renewal and a diversity of skills.” Yet finding the right people to do so may prove difficult, as Macron’s camp appears more divided than ever.
This week alone, after Lecornu’s resignation, Renaissance Secretary-General Gabriel Attal, once Macron’s protégé, publicly urged the president “not to give the impression of clinging to power.”
Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe of the Horizons party called for an early presidential election, and outgoing Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, herself from the centrist camp, urged a political reset and an outreach to the left.
That idea had also resurfaced after Lecornu’s predecessor, François Bayrou, failed to secure a confidence vote in September and stepped down. The Socialist Party then declared itself “ready to govern” and offered to negotiate a new 2026 budget, following Macron’s invitation for coalition members to “work with the socialists” on a post-Bayrou roadmap.
French socialists matter again (for now)
PARIS – The Socialist Party (PS) may be a shadow of its former self, but…
4 minutes
Macron ignored those calls once again. After a Friday meeting with the leaders of the main political forces, excluding the far-right National Rally (RN) and the far-left France Insoumise (LFI), he rejected the idea of appointing a socialist or green prime minister.
And with centrist Lecornu’s return, the Socialists have not ruled out censuring the new government. To avoid such a move, the prime minister may have to revisit the contentious pension reform, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, even at the risk of deepening tensions with his centrist allies.
The socialists have demanded that the law be suspended, while Macron has only floated a possible postponement. The Socialists have demanded that the law be suspended, while Macron has merely floated a possible postponement. Horizons, Philippe’s party, has already warned it could walk out of any “Lecornu II” government if concessions are made to the left on pensions.
France faces budget deadlock after PM’s resignation
PARIS – Following the resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, France’s chances of adopting a…
3 minutes
Lecornu’s support could come from some members of the conservative Les Républicains (LR), who voted to rejoin the prime minister’s first cabinet. But the party chief, Bruno Retailleau, who triggered the fall of the previous government, has reaffirmed his break with Macron’s camp.
The far-right National Rally, meanwhile, said it would immediately seek to censure the government, as its leader, Marine Le Pen, called for dissolution.
Destabilize, dissolve, and dominate: Le Pen’s new gamble
Having tried to appear constructive and responsible in recent months, French far-right leader Marine Le…
5 minutes
(mm)
