By Euronews
Published on
ADVERTISEMENT
France’s President Emmanuel Macron named defence minister Sébastien Lecornu as the country’s next prime minister on Tuesday evening.
Lecornu was already tipped for the position last year and will succeed François Bayrou who was ousted from office after losing a confidence vote in parliament on Monday.
Bayrou, appointed less than a year ago after conservative politician and former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier was ousted, lost his gamble after calling an unprecedented confidence vote over his controversial 2026 budget plan.
At the heart of the showdown were France’s fragile public finances. Last year’s deficit reached 5.8% of GDP, nearly double the EU ceiling of 3%, while national debt now stands at more than €3.3 trillion, roughly 114% of economic output.
Bayrou has argued that drastic cuts are unavoidable, putting forward a plan to slash €44 billion in spending by 2026, partly by scrapping two public holidays.
This is a developing story and our journalists are working on further updates.
