The French political scene is getting real-messy right now (as December starts) with a high-stakes showdown between Michel Barnierʼs government and the far-right National Rally; its gonna be make-or-break time tomorrow
In a super-tense weekend development Marine Le Pen said talks with government hit a wall: the ruling team just wont budge on their budget plans. Last week they did drop that not-so-popular electricity tax thing but that wasnt enough for the far-right crowd
The National Rally has some pretty clear demands they want met:
- Pension increases matching todays prices
- No cuts to medicine coverage
- Lower gas taxes
- Less money going to EU stuff
Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin is sticking to his guns though; he says theyʼll keep the social security deal thats already been worked out. Jordan Bardella (who runs National Rally) thinks thats just the government being way too stubborn
The money-people are getting nervous about all this drama - French stocks arent looking so hot and the countrys debt is making investors kinda jumpy (hitting some not-great numbers we havent seen in like 12 years). At least S&P didnt change Frances rating on friday which was a tiny bit of good news
If things go south tomorrow and that no-confidence vote happens Antoine Armand says itll be pretty rough: theyd need some quick-fix budget laws and about 17 million French folks might see their taxes get weird because of inflation stuff. Plus those pension payments could get really tight