France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has suspended Emmanuel Macron’s flagship 2023 pension overhaul until after the 2027 presidential election in the hope of winning over enough Socialist deputies to survive a no-confidence vote.
In a welcome respite for the embattled French president, the left-leaning party, which holds the balance of power in a deeply divided parliament, suggested in response on Tuesday that it would not back any of the no-confidence motions to be voted on later this week.
After the centre-right Les Républicains (LR) said it would back the government, no-confidence motions submitted by the far-right National Rally (RN) and radical-left France Unbowed (LFI) and due to be voted on Thursday would need Socialist party (PS) support to succeed.
Responding to Lecornu’s announcement on Tuesday, the PS parliamentary leader, Boris Vallaud, did not explicitly say the party would not vote to topple Lecornu. But he hailed a “victory” and said it was “prepared to take a bet” on further debate – for now.
A PS deputy, Laurent Baumel, went further, telling BFM TV that the party, which is itself divided on how to handle the fragile government, “will not vote in favour” of ousting it or submit its own motion of no confidence for the time being. He added that did not mean it would not do so in the future.
Lecornu, who resigned last Monday but was reappointed by Macron on Friday, faces an uphill struggle to pass an austerity budget for next year through France’s deeply splintered parliament, in which no single group has a majority.
With a total of 264 deputies from the RN, LFI, Greens, Communists and hardline-right UDR pledged to vote against him and 288 votes needed to topple the government, any no-confidence motion would need the backing of at least 24 PS deputies to succeed.
To applause from the PS benches, Lecornu made his pension announcement – belated acknowledgment by Macron that freezing the unpopular law, which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64, was the only way to save his premier.
“I will propose to parliament, starting this autumn, that we suspend the 2023 pension reform until the presidential election,” he told the assembled deputies. “No increase in the retirement age will take place from now until January 2028.”
He also promised he would not use the constitutional tool known as article 49.3 to bypass a vote in parliament on any draft laws, and to instead put all his government’s proposed bills to debate in the national assembly. “The government will make suggestions, we will debate, and you will vote,” he said.
The unpopular pensions overhaul, forced through parliament without a vote, had been seen as one of Macron’s main economic legacies. The incoming finance minister, Roland Lescure, said last week that suspending it would “cost billions” by 2027.
Lecornu said the suspension would cost €400m (£348m) in 2026 and €1.8bn the following year, and would benefit 3.5 million people. “It will therefore have to be financially compensated, including through cost-saving measures,” he said.
He urged the deputies not to topple his government “by default”, calling instead for further debate. “Which MPs will tell their fellow citizens they do not want to discuss the budget?” he asked. “Isn’t that the very heart of parliament’s function?”
Lecornu received early backing from Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the conservative LR in the assembly, who said his party would “not be among those who bring down prime ministers. France needs a minimum of stability.”
However, Mathilde Panot, leader of the radical-left LFI in parliament, told Lecornu her party’s position was unchanged, adding: “We will not be participating in your salvation.”
Jordan Bardella, of the far-right RN, repeated his call for snap elections. “In the national assembly, from the LR to the PS, the friendly circle of Emmanuel Macron’s saviours take turns to speak,” he said. “The only common denominator of this nonsensical majority … is fear of the ballot box, and fear of the people.”
France has been mired in its worst political crisis in decades since Macron called snap elections in 2024 that produced a hung parliament divided into three roughly equal blocs: left, far right and the president’s own centrist allies.
The prime minister has urged his new cabinet to do everything to help the country emerge from deadlock and pass an austerity budget by the end of the year. Macron warned any vote to topple the cabinet would force snap parliamentary elections.
Lecornu’s two immediate predecessors, Michel Barnier and François Bayrou, were ousted over plans to cut public spending. Lecornu’s proposed measures include an “exceptional contribution” from big companies and those with France’s biggest fortunes.
France’s debt-to-GDP ratio is close to twice the 60% limit fixed by EU rules. The country’s deficit hit 5.8% of GDP last year, also nearly double the official EU target.
In the draft budget approved by his cabinet on Tuesday, France’s public deficit would be cut to 4.7% of GDP, Lecornu said, saying it must remain below 5% after parliament had debated the budget this autumn.
