France’s Barnier caves to far right’s electricity tax demands as budget crisis looms
Plan was sticking point between government and the National Rally, which has threatened to topple the prime minister.
PARIS — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has decided to scrap a proposed tax increase on electricity from his 2025 budget, conceding to a key demand from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally as budget negotiations head to the wire.
The proposed tax hike was a sticking point between Le Pen and Barnier, whose budget includes €40 billion in spending cuts and €20 billion in tax hikes meant to bring down France’s massive deficit.
In an interview published by French daily Le Figaro on Thursday, Barnier said that “almost every” parliamentary leader, including those from the opposition and within the government’s coalition, was against the electricity tax hike.
The question remains whether abandoning the increase will be enough for Le Pen and her troops to abandon their plans to vote for a motion of no confidence against Barnier and his government. Such a measure is expected to be put forward as early as next week by the left-wing opposition in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament.
If the motion passes, the budget would be rejected and the government would collapse — a possibility that has sent a shiver through the financial markets.
Barnier’s minority government is backed by a fragile coalition of centrist and conservatives and, at least initially, enjoyed the tacit support of the National Rally. To pass his budget, Barnier will most likely need to resort to a constitutional mechanism to pass legislation without a vote but in turn allows lawmakers to file motions of no confidence.
By joining forces with Barnier’s left-wing opposition, who have already vowed to propose such a motion, the far right can oust him from office.
The National Rally on Thursday issued a statement calling the budget “unacceptable” and reiterating its demands, including the scrapping of the electricity tax hike, getting rid of the a delay to the inflation adjustment for pensions, axing a plan to stop reimbursing patients for certain types of drugs, and opening negotiations with Brussels to reduce France’s contribution to the European Union budget.
Party president Jordan Bardella took to X to claim “victory” over Barnier but stressed that the National Rally’s “other red lines” remained.
“The prime minister cannot remain deaf. He has [only] a few days left,” Bardella said.
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