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France’s new Prime Minister Jean-Baptiste Péroux has chosen Eric Lombard, the head of state-backed financial group Caisse des Dépôts, as finance minister, giving him key responsibility for formulating next year’s budget.
Lombard will be tasked with developing a 2025 tax and spending plan that can be approved by France’s raucous pending parliament while starting to repair the country’s deteriorating public finances.
Bellew’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, was ousted by the National Assembly in a vote of no confidence earlier this month over opposition from left-wing and far-right parties to his deficit-cutting budget.
On Monday, Beyrou set ambitious goals in an attempt to get as close as possible to Barnier’s goal of reducing France’s deficit to 5% of GDP by the end of 2025, from more than 6% this year.
“I think we need to find something around 5 [per cent of GDP]slightly more than five, which will allow us to reach an agreement and achieve a balance,” he told BFM TV.
“The priority should be to cut unproductive public spending,” Bellew said, adding that businesses could be asked to pay higher taxes for a “temporary period.”
After days of debate, Berou’s cabinet was revealed on Monday, with President Macron formally appointing ministers on the advice of the prime minister.
Macron and Bellou are under pressure to end France’s political turmoil by forming a government that can survive and pass key measures in a divided parliament.
France welcomed its fourth prime minister this year, an unprecedented change for the French Fifth Republic established in 1958.
Barnier’s term lasted only three months, making him the shortest-serving prime minister.
Brussels and financial markets have been closely watching whether France can start reducing its deficit, which is well above the EU’s 3% of GDP limit.
Bayrou’s Modern Democratic Party has been aligned with Macron’s centrist rally since 2017, but he does not have enough votes to pass the budget.
If Bellew, like Barnier, tries to override lawmakers and invoke a clause in the French constitution to pass a budget, he will be vulnerable to a vote of no confidence.
Parliament last week approved a stopgap emergency budget to avoid shutting down government services in January.
Lombard, 66, a former banker and technocrat, has led the Caisse des Dépôts since Macron appointed him in 2017 to lead the group, which invests in public housing, infrastructure and green projects.
In the areas of defense and international diplomacy, where he is considered president rather than prime minister, Macron has opted for continuity, retaining the loyal Sébastien Lecornu as army minister and Jean-Noël Ba Jean-Noël Barrot serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Both men served in Barnier’s government.
About half of the ministers in Barnier’s government were retained from the same briefing in Berou.
Among them is right-winger Bruno Retaileleau, who as interior minister became known for his tough rhetoric on immigration and crime.
Former Prime Minister Elisabeth Born, also from Macron’s centrist camp, will return as education minister.
France’s political turmoil began in June when Macron called for early parliamentary elections, only to fail and usher in an even more divided National Assembly.
The far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, plus a left-wing bloc composed of the far-left French Indies, Socialists, Communists and Greens voted to oust Barnier as prime minister.
Le Pen’s party is the largest in the National Assembly and her fate was sealed when Barnier refused to budge on his budget proposals.
To avoid being beholden to the National Alliance, Bellu tried to win over moderate left-wing MPs by offering concessions and positions in what he said was a national unity government.
Although the Socialists, Greens and Communists initially seemed open to such a deal, they subsequently deemed Berou’s proposals insufficient and none joined his government.
“This is not a government, this is a provocation,” said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.
Bellou was forced to abandon Xavier Bertrand, a right-wing politician and Le Pen’s long-time opponent, as justice minister, a sign that the National Rally still dominates. She suggested his presence in the Beru government would displease her party.
Bayrou instead chose Gérald Darmanin, a Macron ally and former interior minister, as justice minister.
“The failure to reach an agreement with the left leaves this government in the same vulnerable position as its predecessor,” said political analyst and author Chloé Morin.
