London, 6 October (Argus) — French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned this morning after less than a month in office, after parties dropped out of his minority government, leaving France’s 10-year energy plan (PPE3) further in limbo.
“The conditions are not in place” to pass a budget for 2026, Lecornu said today. He attributed his resignation to the intractability of the parliament, in which he does not have an absolute majority. “The political parties continue acting as if they all had a majority in the national assembly,” and the attribution of ministerial posts had “awakened partisan appetites” within the governing bloc, he said.
Lecornu was appointed by France’s president Emmanuel Macron on 9 September to replace former prime minister Francois Bayrou, himself toppled by a failed confidence vote. France has had three short-lived prime ministers since snap legislative elections last summer left Macron’s centrist bloc without a clear parliamentary majority.
The government announced a first tranche of 18 ministers yesterday around 19:00, of whom most were ministers in the outgoing Bayrou government. The 26-day delay before naming ministers was the longest since the current French constitution was adopted in 1958, beating the previous record of 14 days, held by Lecornu’s predecessor-but-one Michel Barnier.
President of centre-right governing party Les Republicains (LR) Bruno Retailleau last night said “the makeup of the government does not reflect the change promised,” and announced a meeting of the party’s strategy committee. Retailleau was outgoing minister of the interior in Bayrou’s government, and was renamed to the same post by Lecornu.
And minor party the union of democrats and independents (UDI), which has seven deputies, announced late last night that it was to leave the government.
Macron could now name another prime minister, call new legislative elections, or resign and call a presidential election.
Lecornu’s resignation means France’s 10-year energy plan (PPE3) remains unpublished, two years after it was due. The plan has tripped up successive governments, as right-wing parties threatened to vote no confidence if renewable targets were not revised down. Renewables associations strongly criticised reports in recent weeks that Lecornu was planning a moratorium on new wind and solar projects in order to get the plan passed. The plan’s publication is required to launch new offshore wind tenders, as well as to provide a legal basis for state-controlled EdF’s plans to build new nuclear reactors.
By Rhys Talbot
