French parliament dismisses no-confidence votes on Mercosur trade deal

(MENAFN) France’s National Assembly on Wednesday voted down two motions of no confidence targeting the government over the EU’s planned trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc. The motions were tabled by the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) and the far-right National Rally (RN).

The RN’s motion received 142 votes, far short of the 288 needed to topple Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s government. A separate motion from LFI garnered support from 256 lawmakers, also falling short of the required threshold.

The votes came as the EU prepares to sign the long-delayed trade deal with Mercosur countries on Saturday, despite opposition from France and other member states. French farmers have staged protests this week, warning that the agreement would leave them exposed to unfair competition.

Addressing parliament, Lecornu reiterated France’s “total opposition” to the agreement while accusing critics of misrepresenting the government’s stance. “In the current context of international instability, depriving France of stability would amount to internal sabotage,” he said, adding that referring the matter to the European Court of Justice would not automatically halt the treaty’s application.

The Socialist Party and the conservative Republicans declined to support the motions, arguing that attempting to censure the government would not prevent the EU from moving forward with the deal. RN President Jordan Bardella criticized the result, asserting that French farmers were “the great forgotten ones in these obscure backroom deals.”

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