French Prime Minister Michel Barnier arrives to deliver a speech during a debate on two motions of no-confidence against the French government, tabled by the alliance of left-wing parties the"Nouveau Front Populaire" and the far-right Rassemblement National party, after the use by French government of the article 49.
Macron faces growing calls to resign, but he has a mandate until 2027 and cannot be pushed out. Still, the long-running political debacle has left him a diminished figure. France’s political turmoil will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government, and weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
France now faces a period of deep political uncertainty that is already unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks.