00:00Well, more reaction for you now because, of course, Sir France, along with Germany, the two big powerhouses of the European Union.
00:06So let's have the reaction then from Brussels. Earlier, we spoke to our correspondent Dave Keating in Brussels.
00:13France is the second biggest country in the EU and political instability there means political instability for the European Union
00:21at a moment where the EU finds itself rather leaderless.
00:25President Macron has been extremely distracted with these domestic issues, hasn't really been able to take a leadership role on the European stage.
00:33He's largely considered a lame duck for that reason here in Brussels at the moment.
00:38And then there's concern about the specific policy issue that prompted this no-confidence vote,
00:43which is the budget that was attempting to deal with France's debt and deficit.
00:47Now, the EU has commanded France to deal with that debt and deficit.
00:51Last year, the Commission found France to be in violation of the Union's budget rules.
00:58Those rules were set up after the debt crisis involving Greece first 15 years ago.
01:04In reality, France had been in violation of those rules for some time.
01:08The Commission has taken a very soft approach with France.
01:11The question is now that it becomes clear that it's very unlikely that France is going to be able to have
01:18a politically stable enough government that's able to enact the reforms that need to be done
01:23in order to tackle the debt and deficit by 2029, which France is committed to do to the Commission.
01:30Will the Commission start to get more tough with France over the next weeks and months?
01:36But overall, this is very bad news for the EU,
01:39as the second-largest country is dealing with political instability and financial turmoil.
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