French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Bellou will resign without passing the parliamentary confidence vote

The government led by French Prime Minister Beru failed to pass the confidence vote held in the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament), and Beru will submit his resignation to President Macron on behalf of the government. Beru is the fourth prime minister appointed by Macron in the past two years.

According to reports from Xinhua News Agency and the BBC, on Monday afternoon (September 8th), Beru delivered a policy speech on France's public debt situation in the National Assembly and sought a vote of confidence from the National Assembly. Eventually, he received 194 votes in favor and 364 votes against. The votes in favor mainly came from the centrist lawmakers that Beru relied on and some right-wing Republican lawmakers, while the votes against mainly came from left-wing and far-right lawmakers.

According to relevant laws, the government led by Beru received fewer votes in support than in opposition, failed to pass the confidence vote, and had to resign.

The French presidential palace issued a statement that night saying that Macron would accept the resignation letter submitted by Beru on behalf of the government on Tuesday (the 9th) and appoint a new prime minister in the following days. As is customary, the Belu government will continue to be responsible for daily administrative affairs and emergency management until the new prime minister is appointed.

Beru is the chairperson of the centrist Democratic Movement Party and became prime minister on December 13th last year. He is regarded by French public opinion as a staunch political ally of Macron.

In July this year, Beru released the draft budget for France in 2026, planning to cut fiscal spending by 43.8 billion euros (about 66 billion Singapore dollars) to prevent further aggravation of public debt risks. This plan has sparked considerable controversy. Public opinion holds that it is difficult to pass in the National Assembly and may lead to the impeachment of the government by the National Assembly. For this reason, on August 25th, Beru announced that he was seeking a vote of confidence in the National Assembly. In recent days, public opinion has held that Belu's resignation is inevitable.

Like many developed countries, France is facing demographic challenges brought about by an aging population: the number of tax-paying workers is decreasing while the number of people receiving state pensions is increasing.

The French government has been spending more than it spends for decades and has had to borrow to cover its budget. As of early 2025, France's public debt reached 3.345 trillion euros, equivalent to 114% of its gross domestic product (GDP), making it the third highest debt ratio in the Eurozone after Greece and Italy, equivalent to nearly 50,000 euros per French citizen.

The French government aims to reduce the budget deficit as a proportion of GDP from 5.8% in 2024 to 5.4% in 2025 and bring it back within the EU's 3% ceiling by 2029. This year's budget deficit is not expected to fall to 5.4%. Therefore, as borrowing fills the fiscal gap, public debt will continue to grow.

Macron dissolved the National Assembly last June and held parliamentary elections ahead of schedule. The new parliament presents a tripartite confrontation among the left, the middle and the far right, and the government lacks the support of a stable majority in the parliament. Last December, then Prime Minister Barnier was impeached and resigned by the National Assembly after only three months in office, and Beru was forced to step down after less than nine months in office. There have been repeated calls in the French political circle for Macron to resign in disgrace and hold an early presidential election, but Macron has explicitly refused. The next French presidential election will be held in 2027.