https://www.scmp.com/rss/522797/feed The latest news and top stories on Francois Bayrou, prime minister of France since December 2024. His past roles include Education Minister, Minister of Justice and High Commissioner for Planning. He also serves as Mayor of Pau and leads the Democratic Movement MoDem and the European Democratic Party. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government on Sunday, putting together a team under Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu as he struggles to pull the country out of a political crisis. The new cabinet line-up was unveiled nearly a month after the appointment of Lecornu, Macron’s seventh prime minister. The latest premier risks being toppled by the opposition in a deeply divided parliament despite his efforts to obtain cross-party support. Bruno Le Maire, who served as economy minister... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3327971/france-unveils-yet-another-government-it-also-faces-risk-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3327971/france-unveils-yet-another-government-it-also-faces-risk-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 04:41:46 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu Images of burning barricades were shown side by side with the handover ceremony for France’s new prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, on French television channels on Wednesday as “block everything” protests brought back memories of the rallies by the populist “yellow vest” movement that rocked the country in 2018 and 2019. More than 175,000 protesters hit the streets across France on the day of Lecornu’s inauguration, according to the country’s interior ministry. Its government collapsed on... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3325192/french-protests-underscore-deep-concerns-over-slow-decline-amid-us-china-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3325192/french-protests-underscore-deep-concerns-over-slow-decline-amid-us-china-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:00:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters Sebastien Lecornu, the loyalist picked by President Emmanuel Macron to be France’s fifth prime minister in two years, took office on a day of sprawling anti-government protests that underlined the depth of the country’s political crisis. Lecornu, a conservative Macron protégé who most recently served as his defence minister, arrived at midday on Wednesday at the prime minister’s residence, where he met former prime minister Francois Bayrou, who was ousted by parliament on Monday over plans to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3325068/new-french-prime-minister-forced-fight-fires-first-day-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3325068/new-french-prime-minister-forced-fight-fires-first-day-work?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:57:55 +0000 Reuters Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron named loyalist Sebastien Lecornu, a one-time conservative protégé who rallied behind his 2017 presidential run, as prime minister on Tuesday, defying expectations he might tack towards the left. The choice of Lecornu, 39, indicates Macron’s determination to press on with a minority government that stands firmly behind his pro-business economic reform agenda, under which taxes on business and the wealthy have been cut and the retirement age raised. Macron was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324954/frances-macron-names-loyalist-lecornu-new-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324954/frances-macron-names-loyalist-lecornu-new-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:15:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters The challenge French President Emmanuel Macron faces in choosing his fifth prime minister in under two years lays bare the depth of a political crisis that in many ways is of his own making, and one with no clear path out. Francois Bayrou was set to tender his resignation as prime minister on Tuesday, a day after the parliament voted to bring down the government over its plans for taming the budget deficit. Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, had suffered the same fate over his fiscal plans... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324860/frances-macron-facing-critical-dilemma-after-second-pm-ousted-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324860/frances-macron-facing-critical-dilemma-after-second-pm-ousted-year?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 06:49:20 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Emmanuel Macron will accept the resignation of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Tuesday after his government was ejected in a confidence vote, with the French leader rushing to find a successor and stave off a new political crisis. On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty. The French presidency said in a statement that Macron “took note” of the outcome and said Macron would name a new premier “in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324801/french-pm-bayrou-loses-confidence-vote-toppling-his-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324801/french-pm-bayrou-loses-confidence-vote-toppling-his-government?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 17:44:25 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France’s parliament is expected to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Monday after just nine months in office, plunging the key EU member into new political uncertainty and creating a painful dilemma for President Emmanuel Macron. Bayrou blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a months-long standoff over his austerity budget, which foresees almost €44 billion (US$52 billion) of cost savings to reduce France’s debt pile. Opposition parties across the board have made it... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324718/frances-political-crisis-deepens-pm-bayrou-faces-ousting-confidence-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324718/frances-political-crisis-deepens-pm-bayrou-faces-ousting-confidence-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 06:41:25 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu The Chinese business community in France is anxiously awaiting clarity on the country’s economic direction following French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s shock announcement on Monday that he plans to call a vote of confidence on his centrist minority government on September 8. His high-stakes gamble, which most political pundits expect to fail, is of particular concern for Chinese businesses because it could open the door to power for the protectionist far-right National Rally party. Bayrou... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3323360/what-worries-chinese-businesses-most-about-political-chaos-france?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3323360/what-worries-chinese-businesses-most-about-political-chaos-france?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Aug 2025 09:30:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters A massive wildfire that has scorched through 16,000 hectares of forest and villages in southern France since Tuesday has lost intensity but is still not under control, officials said on Thursday. France’s biggest wildfire in nearly eight decades has killed a woman who officials said had disregarded evacuation orders and destroyed dozens of houses, forcing about 2,000 residents and holidaymakers to flee. Plumes of smoke rose over the forest area in the Aude region. Drone footage showed swathes of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3321006/france-battles-largest-wildfire-decades-1-person-killed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3321006/france-battles-largest-wildfire-decades-1-person-killed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Aug 2025 17:29:29 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo The European Union is determined to talk down to China from a position of considerable weakness. The result has been a prematurely concluded summit in Beijing with nothing to show for it other than a standard statement on climate cooperation. At the same time, it has literally cried “daddy” by accepting 15 per cent tariffs on exports to the United States after Donald Trump threatened to slap the bloc with duties of up to 50 per cent. No wonder many European politicians openly complain that... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3320153/europe-being-run-ground-amateurs-and-ideologues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3320153/europe-being-run-ground-amateurs-and-ideologues?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:30:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters France denounced the trade agreement between the European Union and the United States as a “submission” on Monday, though other EU states largely backed a deal they acknowledged was lopsided but which averted an economically damaging trade war with Washington. The framework deal, announced on Sunday between two economies accounting for almost a third of global trade, will see the US impose a 15 per cent import tariff on most EU goods from next month, but offers some protection for critical... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319898/france-slams-eu-us-trade-pact-submission-amid-relief-and-concern-europe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319898/france-slams-eu-us-trade-pact-submission-amid-relief-and-concern-europe?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jul 2025 15:51:21 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Tuesday he wanted to reduce the number of public holidays in France as part of a bid to tackle what he called the “curse” of his country’s debt. Presenting 2026 budget proposals, Bayrou said two out of France’s 11 national holidays could go, suggesting Easter Monday and May 8, a day that commemorates the end of World War II in Europe. Such a measure would bring France into line with Germany’s nine national – although federal states can add their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318375/france-considers-cutting-national-holidays-ease-debt-burden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318375/france-considers-cutting-national-holidays-ease-debt-burden?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 03:57:45 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France on Saturday announced a “historic” accord with New Caledonia in which the overseas territory, rocked by deadly separatist violence last year, would remain French but be declared a new state. President Emmanuel Macron had called for talks to break a deadlock between forces loyal to France and those wanting independence, asking New Caledonian elected officials, as well as political, economic and civil society leaders, to gather near Paris to hammer out a constitutional framework for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3317992/france-new-caledonia-reach-historic-statehood-deal-citizens-remain-french?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3317992/france-new-caledonia-reach-historic-statehood-deal-citizens-remain-french?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jul 2025 11:23:34 +0000