Overview

• The confidence vote is set for 8 September, with the Socialist group and most other opposition parties pledging to vote against, making a government defeat likely.
• Macron convened coalition leaders and told them to seek support from the PS while excluding LFI and RN, and he continues to say early elections are not on his agenda.
• Bayrou said a new dissolution would not bring clarity, maintained his push for measures such as scrapping two public holidays, and signaled decrees to tighten State Medical Aid for undocumented migrants.
• Economy minister Eric Lombard said compromises with the PS on the 2026 budget would be inevitable if the government falls and that the planned €44 billion savings effort would have to be reduced.
• Les Républicains are divided despite Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau urging deputies not to "join the incendiaries," as the RN demands an ultra-rapid dissolution and Nicolas Sarkozy says there is no other solution than new elections.