By The New York Times (World News) | Created at 2024-10-01 20:00:09 | Updated at 2024-10-02 18:19:35
22 hours ago
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Michel Barnier vowed to slash spending and temporarily raise some taxes, but his plan must contend with three bitterly opposed political blocs and an aversion in France to working across party lines.
Oct. 1, 2024, 3:54 p.m. ET
In his first appearance before France’s fractured lower house of Parliament, Prime Minister Michel Barnier pleaded on Tuesday with lawmakers to work with his government on tackling the country’s most pressing issues, first and foremost a looming budget crisis.
Over roughly 90 minutes, Mr. Barnier laid out a road map for his fragile government with many vague promises, including slashing government spending and temporarily raising taxes on the country’s biggest and most profitable companies and on its wealthiest citizens.
Mr. Barnier, a veteran right-wing politician who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron last month, must contend with a lower house of Parliament dominated by three main blocs but with no clear majority.
He acknowledged that tenuous position but beseeched lawmakers to overcome France’s aversion to working across party lines.
“We need more listening, respect and dialogue,” Mr. Barnier said, addressing the 577 newly elected lawmakers in the packed National Assembly. Many from the hard-left France Unbowed party jeered and interrupted him as he spoke. “Compromise is not a swear word,” he added later.
Mr. Barnier is in what many consider an impossible position. Snap parliamentary elections this summer yielded no clear winner. Instead, the lower house is made up of three main blocs with diametrically differing positions: a delicate coalition of conservatives and centrists who support Mr. Barnier; a left-wing alliance called the New Popular Front that is adamant on ousting him; and a far-right bloc led by the National Rally in the influential position of arbiter.
