France, the EU’s second economy and only nuclear power, is sinking into a prolonged crisis. It has neither a parliamentary majority nor a budget for 2026. The absence of French leadership will weaken the EU and support for Ukraine.
Since President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election in 2022, he has appointed five prime ministers. The latest government lasted just 18 hours. His disastrous decision to call snap parliamentary elections last year left the country split between a surging far-right National Rally (RN), his splintered central bloc and a divided left.
With presidential elections due in 2027, no party wants to share blame with the minority centrists for unpopular spending cuts and tax hikes to curb the euro zone’s biggest budget deficit.
France’s political and fiscal crises are feeding each other. Whether Macron limps on with a technocratic government or calls early parliamentary or presidential elections, the turmoil is paving the way for the nationalist, Eurosceptical, anti-immigration RN to take power, with far-reaching consequences for France and Europe.
Paul Taylor is a Senior Visiting Fellow with the Europe in the World Programme at the EPC.
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