Paris, October 16, 2025 – The Europe Today: French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to survive two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday after agreeing to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform in a bid to secure support from left-leaning lawmakers.
Lecornu, who already holds the record as France’s shortest-serving prime minister before being re-appointed last week, faced the risk of an even briefer second tenure until he made the concession on Tuesday, according to media reports.
The Socialist Party, whose votes are crucial to Lecornu’s political survival, welcomed the suspension of the pension reform and announced that it would not support either of the two no-confidence motions — one tabled by the far-left and the other by the far-right National Rally.
Despite the move to delay the pension overhaul until after the 2027 presidential election, analysts expect a tight vote, with possible defections from the Socialists or conservative Republicans introducing uncertainty into the final outcome.
Currently, 265 lawmakers have declared their intention to vote against Lecornu’s government, with 289 votes required to pass a motion of no confidence.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Lecornu said he would propose an amendment to the social security financing law in November to formally suspend the reform.
However, shelving the pension reform risks undermining one of President Macron’s flagship economic initiatives at a time when France’s public finances are under severe strain, potentially leaving the president with few domestic policy successes after eight years in office.
France continues to grapple with one of its most serious political crises in decades, as successive minority governments struggle to pass deficit-reduction budgets through a fragmented legislature divided into three ideological blocs. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party has set its sights on introducing a new tax on billionaires in the 2026 budget as fiscal negotiations move forward in parliament.
