00:00Here in France, the cabinet is meeting after the government presented a last-ditch proposal
00:04that effectively makes concessions to most political parties as it seeks to secure an
00:08agreement over the budget for 2026. Negotiations have been dragging on for months, forcing a
00:14rollover budget in the meantime to keep this country afloat. The Macron government, which
00:18lacks a majority in parliament, is hoping to win support from the socialists. We can now bring in
00:22our French politics editor, Marc Perlman. Marc, where do things stand?
00:25Well, this afternoon, we should know more. At 4 p.m. Paris time, there is a cabinet meeting that's
00:32been called. Normally, it's on Wednesdays. Today is obviously Monday. Why? Because this is when
00:38the decision will be made between the prime minister and the president and shared with the rest of the
00:44cabinet in terms of which vehicle might be used for the government to push through this budget.
00:51It seems that getting a favorable vote in the National Assembly for a budget is now nearly
00:58impossible for the prime minister. So he has two ways to do it. It's a bit technical, but it's
01:04important. One is the Article 49.3 of the Constitution that's been traditionally used before, whereby you
01:12push a bill through parliament without a vote, especially on a budgetary tax, in exchange, quote-unquote,
01:20the opposition can table a motion of no confidence. And given that there is no clear majority for the
01:28prime minister, this carries the risk of being thrown out. The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu,
01:34has said when he became prime minister that he promised he wouldn't use Article 49.3 because he says
01:41it's a denial of democracy. Parliament should debate and find compromises. This is what happened
01:48at the end of last year with the budget for the Social Security. There was a consensus. It was voted.
01:54However, for the general budget that is in discussion right now, there is no such consensus. So he might
01:59be forced to come back on his word and use Article 49.3. But obviously, there is the risk that he might be
02:08thrown out through a motion of defiance. This is why on Friday, he made a few announcements,
02:14hoping that he would gain, if not the favor, at least in neutrality from both the small socialist
02:21group and the small conservative group in parliament. So he says, OK, I might use Article 49.3
02:27and eventually survive a motion of the confidence. The other option that's never been used before under
02:34the Fifth Republic, it's called an ordonnance, which is more or less a decree where the budget would be
02:40presented and it would be implemented without taking into account the possible amendments from
02:49the opposition. It's never been used. It could be used. The advantage is that once it is adopted,
02:56the budget stays even if the government is thrown out. So this could be something that might appeal,
03:03let's say, for the president. He might say, OK, I might need to choose another prime minister,
03:09but at least I have a budget that could reassure Brussels and financial markets.
03:13Because the last thing Emmanuel Macron wants now is to put out on fire on the domestic front,
03:17considering now France is grappling with how to respond to this latest tariff threat from Washington.
03:23Yes, absolutely. The French president wants to be able to deal with this issue without having to deal
03:29with the budget. They've been trying to find a compromise on the budget for weeks, for weeks. Now,
03:35clearly we'll have a response probably already this afternoon, at least as to how this will be done,
03:42because Emmanuel Macron and Sébastien Lecornu want to deal with the other issues. There are obviously
03:47international issues, but obviously there's education, there's health, there's crime, immigration,
03:53all other issues that are on hold because of this budget debates. Let's see if they choose how they do it
04:01and also if it works in the end, because again, there's no majority in parliament. And Sébastien Lecornu,
04:08as he has himself admitted, is the weakest prime minister. He's still very weak. He's holding by a
04:13threat. We'll see what happens, Mark. Thank you very much.
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