French PM Bayrou’s Council of Ministers Holds Its First Meeting
Sophie Primas. Jan. 3, 2025, Paris, France. X/ @LeHuffPost
January 3, 2025 Hour: 1:26 pm
The new government, however, lacks a parliamentary majority that would ensure its permanence.
On Friday, the new French government, led by centrist Prime Minister François Bayrou, held its first Cabinet meeting under the threat of an impending no-confidence vote due to its lack of a parliamentary majority, while attempting to persuade political parties to abandon their hardline positions.
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“The government’s mission is clear: to set France in motion and to unite in the face of divisions,” emphasized spokesperson Sophie Primas during a press conference following a brief Cabinet meeting lasting just one hour.
“The culture of dialogue and harmony would be the backbone of the government,” she said, adding that “the French people do not want this period of instability to continue.”
Primas urged political parties to move beyond their hardline positions, noting that each party “will need to take responsibility and accept that some of their demands will be considered while others will not.”
The new government, whose composition was announced on December 23, is a result of the no-confidence motion on December 4 that ousted the administration led by conservative PM Michel Barnier.
As was the case for Barnier, Bayrou currently lacks a parliamentary majority to pass his proposals. His main short-term challenges include delivering his general policy speech to the National Assembly on January 14, which is almost certain to trigger the filing of a no-confidence motion. If he overcomes this challenge, the next step will be presenting the 2025 budget.
When asked about the timeline for presenting the budget—an issue that led to Barnier’s downfall—Primas acknowledged that no schedule had been set but indicated that initial guidelines would be outlined in the January speech.
Regarding whether the deficit for this year will be revised upward compared to the previous government’s proposal to cap it at 5% of GDP, she noted that this would depend on the consultations underway between Economy Minister Eric Lombard and Finance Minister Amelie de Montchalin.
In any case, Primas asserted that the goal of “reducing debt” would not be abandoned, as interest payments remain the largest expenditure in the budget. According to estimates from the previous administration, France’s public deficit for 2024 stood at approximately 6.1% of GDP.
Primas also announced that next week’s Cabinet meeting would present a bill for the reconstruction of Mayotte, a French archipelago in the Indian Ocean that was hit by Cyclone Chido on December 14.
Among the government’s other priorities, Primas highlighted the need to address farmers’ demands and to oppose the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. While the two blocs formally concluded negotiations on December 6, Paris remains staunchly opposed to the deal.
“The fight is not over,” warned Primas, adding that efforts to counter the agreement would now shift to the European Parliament.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
