Lecornu tries to reassure business leaders and criticizes Parliament

"The danger that weighs on the French economy is the lack of a budget," warned the head of government to representatives of employers, at a round table of the Choose France trade fair which was honoring French companies investing in their country.

The examination of the draft budget resumed on Monday in the Assembly, with the risk of being sent to the Senate without a vote on the entire text, like that of Social Security on Wednesday, due to lack of time.

Representatives from the Medef, industries and financial markets all expressed their perplexity at the uncertain outcome of the parliamentary debates as well as at the content of the future budget.

Alexandre Saubot, president of France Industrie, expressed concern about "outlandish" tax proposals. Jacques Creyssel, speaking for the Medef (French Business Confederation), lamented that the "political climate and tax decisions" are leading SMEs to postpone their investments, "a symptom of an extremely serious crisis."

The Prime Minister asked them to rest assured because taxes voted on in the first reading in the Assembly "will never be applied", recalling that he had referred the matter to the Council of State, and arguing that the Zucman tax on high fortunes was not included in the draft budget.

"Cynical agendas"

He also defended the supply-side policies favored by Emmanuel Macron. "Growth, work, employment, investment, innovation, production tools, (...) this is the engine of the future," he argued, regretting that it was "in the minority" in the National Assembly, where members have "aspirations for fiscal or social justice" but "which are completely disconnected from the real economy."

Sébastien Lecornu said, however, that he had "no regrets" about having abandoned the 49.3, which allowed Parliament to regain control at the risk of the debates becoming bogged down, pointing the finger at the opposition in this regard.

He revived his "coffee filter" image, asserting that texts could settle between the first and last readings in the Assembly, and preemptively placed the responsibility for any potential failure on the opposition.

"We may not succeed if political parties (...) come and impose their own timetable, their own logic which, rarely, are compatible with the economic life or the real life of the country," he said, targeting the "cynical agendas of brutality and disorder" of La France Insoumise.

LFI is demanding more time to debate and had notably criticized, like other political parties, the government's decision not to sit this weekend.

"Last chance"

Fearing that the executive branch would resort to decrees if the texts were not examined within the deadlines, LFI MP Eric Coquerel, chairman of the Assembly's Finance Committee, wrote to the Prime Minister on Monday to ask him to officially renounce this constitutional tool.

The Prime Minister, for his part, wanted a compromise on the budget "before" the end of December, "because if there is no budget, it will be a bad compromise in crisis management later on."

If the budget cannot be passed, the head of government also has the special law which allows the 2025 appropriations to be renewed. But Parliament should debate again in 2026 a budget for the whole year.

While he had previously said he trusted parliamentarians, Sébastien Lecornu insisted that the centre-right government "affirm (its) convictions even more strongly", saying for example that he was in favour of the Dutreil pact, which facilitates the transfer of a family business.

However, the business world cannot "act as if there is no democracy and no Parliament" without a clear majority, he said, inviting employers to participate in consultations with unions on pension reform, which must be suspended until the presidential election.

"I said I was not in favor of the suspension" but "I had to propose it to break the deadlock," he explained, recalling that he was conducting a "last-ditch operation" because in his eyes, as in those of the president, a censure would be tantamount to a dissolution.