#no-confidence-motions

#no-confidence-motions

The no-confidence motions aimed to protest the European Union's trade agreement with the MERCOSUR bloc. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has survived two no-confidence votes in parliament, clearing the way for the government to focus on yet another budget showdown in the coming days. The no-confidence motions, filed by the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), aimed to protest the European Union's trade agreement with the South American bloc Mercado Comun del Sur (Southern Common Market, or MERCOSUR).

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces two no-confidence motions this week as France's political crisis deepens. France's embattled prime minister says he backs suspending a pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election in a bid to end the political turmoil that has gripped the country for months. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, 39, announced on Tuesday that he supports pausing an unpopular reform that raised the age of retirement from 62 to 64 in the hopes of securing enough votes to survive two no-confidence votes.

Lecornu, a center-right ally of President Emmanuel Macron who served as defense minister in the previous government, succeeds Francois Bayrou, who was ousted on Monday after losing a confidence vote in the National Assembly. But he inherits the same challenge of trimming France's huge deficit, the biggest in the Eurozone at 5.8% of GDP, while negotiating an utterly divided parliament.