The French No-Confidence Vote: A View from Berlin

On December 5, the French Prime Minister, Michael Barnier, resigned after the left-wing coalition, New Popular Front, and the far-right National Rally Party, collaborated to topple his government. Only three months after it took office, Barnier’s government is the first to fall from a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years. The political dispute, which centered around the 2025 annual budget, suggests it will be harder to solve the country’s economic issues. France has the worst budget imbalance in the Eurozone with a 6.2% deficit of GDP.

The no-confidence vote has plunged the country into political chaos. In a nationwide address, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the far-left and far-right forces that united, deeming them an “anti-Republican front.” Next door, Germany is facing its own political and economic troubles. The ruling three-party coalition collapsed in November and elections are slated for February. Government collapses in both Berlin and Paris will inhibit wider efforts to address European wide issues and will impact transatlantic relations.

Join the ACG for a virtual discussion with Jacob Ross, Research Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, to examine the French government collapse, Franco-German relations, and what comes next.

Jacob Ross is a Research Fellow at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V. (German Council on Foreign Relations, DGAP), where he focuses on France and Franco-German relations. He initially joined the DGAP in June 2021. Previously, he worked as a research assistant at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels. He had already gained experience within the Franco-German context while working at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and during his work as a parliamentary assistant to Sabine Thillaye, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly.

Mr. Ross also received the majority of his academic training in France: first, within a Franco-German double-degree program at the Institute of Political Science (IEP) in Lille and, later, at the IEP in Paris and at the Ecole nationale d’administration (Ena) in Strasbourg. He also studied at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Bologna while earning a master’s degree in international relations and economics.