PARIS (Reuters) – French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday her National Rally (RN) party would support an emergency law that rolls over the 2024 budget’s tax-and-spend provisions into next year to ensure there is stopgap financing.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his government are widely expected to lose a no-confidence vote later on Wednesday, deepening a political crisis and calling into question the prospects of passing a 2025 budget before the end of the year.
The constitution allows for a special law to be passed in parliament that rolls over the tax-raising and spending provisions in the current budget to ensure there is no U.S.-style government shut down.
Le Pen told the National Assembly her party would “obviously vote in favour” of the special law should the next government chose to use the measure. Her opponents have accused the RN of sparking unnecessary chaos with their push to topple Barnier.