On February 2, the French National Assembly, rejecting two votes of no confidence in the government, finally approved the country's 2026 budget, ending a four-month political impasse, Report informs referring to French media.
Both right-wing and left-wing radicals have called for the government's resignation.
Lawmakers rejected these votes, introduced after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pushed the budget through parliament for the third and final time on January 30, without a vote, invoking Article 49.3 of the Constitution.
"France finally has a budget," Lecornu was quoted as saying by media.
The budget calls for a deficit reduction to 5% of GDP, tax increases for some businesses, an increase in military spending (6.5 billion euros), and social measures.
Speaking before the no-confidence vote on Monday, Lecornu criticized the opposition parties – the far-right National Rally (RN) and the leftist France Insoumise (LFI).
France is under pressure from the EU, whose rules require it to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio, which exceeds the established ceiling by 60% and trails only Greece and Italy. To this end, the budget bill includes tax increases for a number of companies, which should bring in approximately 7.3 billion euros.