French far-right leader sets Monday deadline to amend budget proposals, threatens to overthrow government
National Rally leader Le Pen threatens no-confidence against Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government if constitution's Article 49.3 used to pass 2025 health insurance budget without parliamentary vote
ISTANBUL
The French government is teetering on the brink of collapse after Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, gave Prime Minister Michel Barnier a deadline until Monday to amend his controversial budget proposals for 2025.
In an exclusive interview with Le Monde daily on Thursday, Le Pen said she believes there are still significant issues with the current version of the 2025 budget. She gave Barnier a December 2 deadline to meet her demands.
“If our demands are not met, we will act,” Le Pen said, signaling the National Rally’s readiness to align with left-wing opposition parties to force the government’s collapse.
Le Pen threatened to back a no-confidence motion against the government if Barnier invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution, which would allow him to pass the 2025 health insurance budget without a parliamentary vote.
She emphasized that delaying the budget vote would not resolve the issue and reiterated her four key budget demands, including the elimination of an electricity tax hike and a proposal to delay the inflation adjustment for pensions.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Le Figaro, Barnier announced that he has withdrawn a proposed tax increase on electricity prices, which was considered a "red line" by far-right organizations.
Le Pen also criticized Barnier’s comments in Le Figaro, in which he failed to acknowledge that the government has made concessions on the electricity tax increase in response to RN’s demands.
Calling this a "democratic issue," she said, "They want our votes but not our opinions; we've been experiencing this for four years. I don’t understand why there’s any shame in respecting the red lines of the National Assembly’s largest group in a democracy."
Motion of no-confidence could topple government
Barnier’s government may invoke Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to bypass parliamentary votes on the budget due to the lack of a parliamentary majority. If both the 124-member RN and the 192-member New People's Front (NFP) coalition simultaneously support a no-confidence motion, the government could fall.
The 2025 budget, introduced by the government on October 10, includes plans for €40 billion in savings and €20 billion in tax increases.
The French budget deficit is expected to exceed 6% of the country’s GDP this year, far surpassing the 3% threshold set by the EU.