France plunged deeper into political chaos Monday as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after just 26 days in office, becoming the country’s third premier to fall since December. His departure leaves unresolved a heated debate over taxing the ultra-wealthy that has captivated French voters but divided its fractured parliament.
Lecornu’s brief tenure collapsed the day after he unveiled his cabinet, which drew fierce criticism across the political spectrum. President Emmanuel Macron immediately asked him to develop a “stability plan” by Wednesday evening, though few observers believe the embattled premier can salvage a government that commands support from none of the three blocs dominating the National Assembly.
The resignation caps months of gridlock over how to address France’s mounting fiscal crisis. The country’s deficit reached 5.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, while national debt stands at 114% of GDP.
That makes France the third most indebted nation in the eurozone after Greece and Italy, with obligations equivalent to nearly €50,000 per citizen.
Central to the impasse is the “Zucman tax,” a proposal by 38-year-old economist Gabriel Zucman that would require households worth more than €100 million to pay at least 2% of their total assets in taxes annually. Zucman estimates the measure could generate €20 billion in revenue, though critics place the figure closer to €5 billion.
The proposal has achieved remarkable public support, with 86% of respondents viewing it favorably in a poll the Socialist Party commissioned. That enthusiasm reflects broader frustration among voters watching costs rise as governments collapse while attempting to balance budgets.
Lecornu explicitly rejected the Zucman tax on October 3, arguing it would force business founders to pay based on fluctuating share values in addition to income taxes. He proposed instead a levy targeting holding companies that wealthy individuals use to defer dividend taxes, a measure expected to raise just over €1 billion.
The Socialists, who helped topple France’s last two governments, have made the Zucman tax their price for supporting any budget. That created an impossible bind for Lecornu, whose coalition partner Les Républicains demanded assurances he would never implement such a measure.
Zucman contends the executive branch has ignored both parliamentary deliberation and popular demand.
The economist, who teaches at the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley, believes “the executive has so far remained completely deaf to both parliamentary work and popular democratic demands.” He argues that ruling out higher taxes “blocks the country, wastes time.”
Business leaders have mounted fierce opposition to the wealth tax. LVMH chief Bernard Arnault warned it would “destroy the French economy.” Legal experts question whether the measure violates constitutional protections.
Lecornu had attempted to thread the needle with alternative proposals. Reports emerged on October 4, revealing he planned to renew a one-off tax ensuring high earners pay at least 20% of their income and to target individuals earning over €250,000 annually.
The finance ministry identified some 30,000 holding structures that would fall within the scope of the crackdown.
Those measures aimed to generate between €4 billion and €4.5 billion in additional revenue. Raphaël Glucksmann, a prominent Socialist, suggested his party might support the government if it pursued “a policy that moves in the direction of greater fiscal justice.” But other factions dismissed Lecornu’s proposals as insufficient.
The political paralysis began after Macron called snap parliamentary elections in July 2024 following a bruising loss in European Parliament voting. Rather than delivering a clear majority, the elections produced a hung parliament divided into ideologically opposed blocs unwilling to cooperate.
Michel Barnier lasted three months as prime minister before a no-confidence vote felled him in September 2024. François Bayrou survived nine months before parliament rejected his budget, calling for €44 billion in spending cuts. Lecornu became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history.
Financial markets reacted sharply to Monday’s resignation. Stocks fell on the Paris exchange while borrowing costs rose. The euro dropped more than half a cent against the dollar, a rare instance of domestic French politics affecting currency markets.
Zucman rejects the notion that France faces an existential crisis. The economist notes that French citizens maintain high levels of private savings and assets. “We should not dramatize,” he insists. “France is not at the mercy of its international creditors.”
He views taxing ultra-wealthy households’ private assets as the solution to the budget impasse. “It is a problem that financially has a solution, and this solution belongs to the French,” Zucman argues.
Pascal Saint-Amans, who led global corporate tax reform efforts at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for a decade, credits Zucman with reframing the debate. “The merit of the Zucman tax is not the tax itself, it is the diagnosis and moving away from the idea that nothing can be done,” the French official observes.
Whether a new prime minister will embrace the wealth tax remains unclear. Bastien Trelcat, co-managing partner at Friedland Trelcat Bonnici, notes Lecornu has already confirmed he will attempt to form a cabinet but will not take the job as prime minister himself. According to Trelcat, Macron must first find a premier willing to serve.
The path forward offers few attractive options, Trelcat explains. Any prime minister from left parties likely to implement the Zucman tax “will be censored immediately.” A conservative premier from Les Républicains should not pass the measure.
The only remaining alternative, in Trelcat’s assessment, involves a conservative prime minister with far-right cabinet members who might back a tax on “liquid” financial assets, marking the first time in French history such an arrangement would occur.
Parliament’s dissolution on Wednesday appears highly probable, Trelcat believes. That outcome would force Macron into the same elections he has repeatedly sought to avoid.
Macron now faces three options: appoint another prime minister, dissolve the National Assembly again, or resign. The president has repeatedly ruled out stepping down before his term ends in 2027. Naming a new premier appears futile given Lecornu’s failure.
That leaves new legislative elections, which would likely devastate Macron’s centrist party and deliver gains to Marine Le Pen’s hard right.
Bruno Le Maire, whose appointment as defense minister in Lecornu’s cabinet drew particular criticism, withdrew Monday afternoon in an attempt to salvage the government. The gesture came too late.
Lecornu, in his resignation speech outside the prime minister’s residence, criticized “partisan appetites” among political factions who “are all behaving as if they had an absolute majority.”
The premier insisted he stood “ready for compromise, but all parties wanted the other party to adopt their programs in their entirety.” He urged rivals to show more humility and “cast some egos aside.”
Whether Lecornu’s 48-hour reprieve produces any breakthrough remains doubtful. His government, which he unveiled on Sunday, never secured enough support to pass legislation. The wealth tax debate that flared during his brief tenure persists unresolved.
