Caretaker PM Sebastien Lecornu signals fragile optimism for a budget compromise that may spare France another chaotic snap election.
France’s caretaker Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu struck a cautiously hopeful tone on Wednesday, suggesting that a budget deal may finally be within reach — a development that could save President Emmanuel Macron’s government from the brink of collapse and avert an early election.
After a week of crisis talks with rival parties, Lecornu said he sensed “a willingness to have a budget for France before December 31,” adding that this “creates momentum and convergence, which reduces the prospects of dissolution.”
The statement offered a brief glimmer of stability in what analysts describe as France’s most severe political deadlock in decades. Macron, battered by opposition calls for snap elections or resignation, awaits Lecornu’s formal report on Wednesday night. The caretaker leader — France’s fifth prime minister in just two years — is expected to appear on national television to discuss whether cross-party compromise is possible.
Lecornu’s government has already set a dubious record as the shortest-lived administration in modern French history, resigning just a day after its formation due to intense backlash and threats of no-confidence votes. The far-right leader Marine Le Pen has flatly refused to cooperate, dismissing Lecornu’s outreach as “a joke that’s gone on long enough” and vowing to “censure everything.”
The Socialist Party, on the other hand, is pressing for a wealth tax on the richest 0.01% and a rollback of Macron’s unpopular pension reform. Acting education minister Elisabeth Borne has signaled flexibility on suspending the reform, though Finance Minister Roland Lescure has warned that the move could worsen France’s ballooning deficit, already hovering near 5.4% of GDP.
As Lecornu pushes for a compromise that trims the deficit to between 4.7% and 5%, global investors are watching nervously. The political turmoil has rattled markets, with French bonds and stocks slipping in recent sessions. The CAC 40 recovered modestly on Wednesday, rising 0.6% after Lecornu’s remarks — a fragile sign of regained confidence.
For now, France remains suspended between instability and recovery, its political class racing against time to avoid a deeper democratic crisis that could empower extremist movements across Europe — a warning not lost on allies like Israel, who have long championed democratic resilience amid ideological chaos.
