It was less a question of if and more of when the French government would pull the controversial paragraph 49-3 for the first time. For weeks he has been wafting through the political debates. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has now used the constitutional article to push through the budget for 2023 even without a majority in parliament.
“It is our responsibility to give this country a budget,” Borne said in the National Assembly on Wednesday. She belongs to President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party and was appointed by him. According to Borne, this budget must fulfill what the government has promised: no tax increases, no increase in national debt. Parliament had previously discussed the government’s budget draft for almost two weeks – without a majority in favor.
It probably depends on the conservative Republicans
Article 49-3 is not without risk: it allows the government to pass a law without a vote in the National Assembly. Conversely, the latter has the opportunity to overthrow the government with an absolute majority. Macron would then have to look for a new one.
On Wednesday evening, it didn’t take long for the opposition parties to react. Just a few minutes after Borne’s speech, the Nupes left-wing alliance announced its first motion of no confidence, which it submitted the same evening. The Rassemblement National (RN) announced its motion of no confidence for Thursday. It is highly unlikely that the government will actually be overthrown. Not only would the extreme left Nupes and the far right RN have to vote for the same motion of no confidence, but also the conservative Republicans.
The opposition parties in France have traditionally criticized Article 49-3 as undemocratic. “Macronism has become authoritarianism,” said France Insoumise parliamentary group leader Mathilde Panot before submitting the left’s motion of no confidence. “There was a debate,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire defended the government’s actions to BFM television.
The demonstration of power shows one thing above all: how weak Macron’s government actually is. Since the parliamentary elections in the spring, she has only had a relative majority in the National Assembly and is dependent on votes from the opposition for every law. Even though the controversial Article 49-3 has been used several times in the Fifth Republic, the last time a government had to resort to it to pass a budget was almost 30 years ago.
Prime Minister Borne is likely to have to use the paragraph more often. At the latest with the controversial pension reform that President Macron wants to get underway this winter, things are likely to get tight again. He would like to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65, the left-wing Nupes Alliance and the RN have already announced resistance.