Debate is raging in France on whether the wealthy should shoulder a bigger role in filling government coffers, as the country grapples with the largest deficit in the euro area.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has left the door open to measures that could affect the richest, but has criticized calls for a broad-based wealth tax, saying it's up to parliament to decide what goes into the budget.
The 2026 budget needs to be tabled in October. Current parliamentary math means that to adopt a financial text, Lecornu would need either Socialist lawmakers or Marine Le Pen’s National Rally to abstain in a no-confidence motion. Both have baulked at the previous government’s proposed spending cuts, have made “tax justice” a rallying cry and are threatening to oust Lecornu if he doesn’t make concessions. That makes meeting demands to make the rich pay a potential lifeline out of a political and fiscal quagmire, but it would chip away at President Emmanuel Macron’s pro-business legacy, Bloomberg said.
