As France continues to grapple with its unending public finance crisis, each passing week has brought new developments that shed light on the country's profound malaise. Until now, the constant turnover of governments – five since President Emmanuel Macron's second term began, and three since the end of his "whatever it takes" spending policy, seemed mainly to stem from a parliamentary crisis.
The political ecosystem has been deeply unsettled by the consequences of weakening presidential authority. For Macron, after he was re-elected president, this resulted first in the loss of his majority in the Assemblée Nationale in 2022, and then the loss of his plurality, in 2024.
This erosion of power, breaking with the top-down tradition of the Fifth Republic, automatically gave greater authority to the Assemblée Nationale, provided that the political parties, apart from La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), were willing to compromise to resist pressure from the extremes. That did not happen. The result has nearly paralyzed the country, coupled with sharp deteriorations in both Parliament's and the president's reputations.
The involvement of labor unions and employers' organizations, which were meant to focus and convey the demands of those they represent, put a spotlight on just how deep divisions ran within French society. The unions have now aimed to use a day of protest action, held on Thursday, September 18, as a show of strength against former prime minister François Bayrou's draft budget, even though his successor, Sébastien Lecornu, quickly scrapped the most unpopular measure from it: eliminating two public holidays to help fund defense spending. The unions have also targeted the 2023 pension reform and changes to the unemployment insurance system.
Above all, they have positioned themselves as the voice of the population's mounting anger over "the unfair distribution of value and wealth." A joint statement issued by the unions specifically called out "tax cuts for the wealthy and the €211 billion in public aid captured by the largest companies." This comes at a time when the Socialists, who hold a decisive position for the upcoming budget vote, have raised the stakes around the issue of the "Zucman tax," a measure aimed at imposing a minimum 2% wealth tax on fortunes over €100 million.
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