French Government Resigns, Takes on Caretaker Role During Transition Period


Governing France is about to become more challenging for Emmanuel Macron. On Tuesday, the French president accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his government, initiating a transition period where the outgoing administration will act as a caretaker until a new executive is appointed, according to a statement from the Elysée.

Macron urged "all Republican forces" to reach an agreement to conclude this transition period "as soon as possible." Historically, such transitional periods have not lasted more than nine days, but these are unprecedented times in France.


A section of the outgoing French Cabinet. 

The president is responsible for appointing the new prime minister and cabinet. This process is straightforward when the president's party holds an absolute majority in parliament, or the president selects the leader of the majority party in the lower house. However, France's fragmented political landscape leaves the future government and opposition unclear.

The left-wing New Popular Front coalition won last week’s snap election but fell short of an absolute majority in the National Assembly, leading to internal disagreements over their prime ministerial candidate. Macron has not clarified his next steps but has suggested that "no one" won the election and emphasized the need for a cross-party "sincere and loyal dialogue" to build a solid majority.

During the caretaker government phase, ministers will manage everyday matters unless their decisions require political judgment or raise significant legal issues, as outlined in an internal note to ministerial cabinets. With the Paris 2024 Olympics starting in ten days, certain Cabinet members, especially the sports and interior ministers, will remain fully committed to their tasks.

The transition period also brings uncertainty to the government's budget law for the upcoming year, typically discussed in the fall and adopted by the end of 2024. France is under scrutiny from the European Commission for overspending in 2023. On Tuesday, Brussels launched an excessive deficit procedure against France, necessitating a plan for new spending cuts in the coming months.

Outgoing Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who implemented over €20 billion in cuts this year, was planning similar reductions for next year, focusing on France’s generous social expenditures.“We will prepare options for the next government, but it will be up to them to decide,” Le Maire told reporters on Monday.


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