2026 Budget, Political Back to School, “Let’s Block Everything”: François Bayrou to Hold Press Conference on Monday

The exercise promises to be perilous. Prime Minister François Bayrou will hold a press conference on Monday at 4 p.m., Matignon announced this Saturday, August 23. It will come as the head of government approaches a very delicate political return, marked by the preparation of the 2026 budget, calls to block the country on September 10 , and the threat of a motion of censure since the presentation in mid-July of budget guidelines providing for nearly €44 billion in savings next year.

"At the start of the school year, there will inevitably be a confrontation between reality and ideologies," he admitted this week to AFP after spending a studious summer in Paris. The Prime Minister prepared for this political return during a dinner with Emmanuel Macron last Thursday at the presidential holiday residence at Fort Brégançon.

The head of state, for his part, publicly expressed his support for his Prime Minister, in an interview published by Paris Match . François Bayrou "is my friend... my traveling companion. He has the capacity to lead this government which is not usual," he explained, judging his budget savings plan "lucid and courageous."

But La France Insoumise (LFI) has announced that it will submit a motion of censure as early as September 23, when debates resume in the National Assembly. The other left-wing parties, particularly the Socialists, appear ready to vote for it if François Bayrou's proposals do not change, and the National Rally is also threatening to do so this time .

Rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on Friday for calls to shut down the country on September 10, initially launched on social media, to be transformed into a "general strike." "We need a general strike on September 10 because on September 23, we will submit a motion of censure to bring down François Bayrou's government ," he declared.

The government, for its part, will resume consultations on Monday with social partners, initially, and then with the political forces represented in Parliament. Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet will meet with trade unions and employers' organizations starting Monday before opening negotiations on "modernizing the labor market" and "quality of work," according to her ministry.

This negotiation is the third to which François Bayrou wants to invite the social partners, after the one on a new reform of unemployment insurance and another on the elimination of two public holidays, one of his most contested budget proposals.

In addition, several ministers will resume discussions with the parliamentary groups of the coalition supporting the government and those of the opposition "over the next two weeks," Minister for Relations with Parliament Patrick Mignola told AFP.