French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on Sunday unveiled his new cabinet, appointing Roland Lescure, a trusted ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as France’s new finance minister.
The reshuffle retained several senior figures from the previous government despite recent parliamentary upheavals.
Lescure, one of the earliest figures to back Macron’s 2017 presidential bid, once had brief ties to the Socialist Party.
His appointment is widely interpreted as an overture to the left as Lecornu prepares for difficult cross-party negotiations over the national budget.
The upcoming budget debates are expected to be tense, with Macron’s centrist minority government needing to navigate between the far right and the left to secure enough support for its fiscal plans.
Lecornu’s two predecessors at the finance ministry, François Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were ousted by parliament amid disputes over efforts to curb public spending.
Their downfall came as France’s swelling deficit, the largest in the eurozone, drew increasing scrutiny from investors and ratings agencies.
“This is Bayrou’s government without Bayrou, and will implement the same policies,” hard-left lawmaker Eric Coquerel told BFM TV.
Bruno Le Maire, who previously steered France’s economic policy and led the country’s massive COVID-19 relief effort, has been reassigned as defense minister.
In his new role, he will help shape France’s approach to European defense amid pressure from US President Donald Trump for the EU to take greater responsibility for Ukraine’s security.
“The choice of this identical government, seasoned with the man who bankrupted France, is pathetic,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen wrote on X, criticizing France’s rising deficit under Le Maire’s tenure. “We are utterly dismayed.”
Several ministers retained their posts, including Jean-Noël Barrot at foreign affairs, Bruno Retailleau at the interior ministry, and Gérald Darmanin at justice.
Courting the Socialists
Lescure, 58, now faces the challenge of striking a delicate balance, winning at least partial support from the Socialists while safeguarding Macron’s pro-business credentials and maintaining unity among conservatives and liberals.
A Franco-Canadian and former senior executive at Natixis Asset Management, Lescure must also tread carefully around the far right, whose willingness to trigger government collapses remains high.
Seeking to appeal to the left, Lecornu has floated the idea of a wealth tax long demanded by Socialist lawmakers, though business owners’ assets would be excluded to protect companies and jobs.
At the same time, he has ruled out invoking special constitutional powers to pass the budget without parliamentary approval.
