France's Socialists present budget plan to navigate post-Bayrou era

Philippe Brun, MP for Eure, Olivier Faure, the Socialist leader, Patrick Kanner, president of the Socialist senators and Sandrine Runel, MP for Rhône, during the Socialist summer conference in Blois on August 30, 2025. CYRIL BITTON/DIVERGENCE FOR LE MONDE

The latest proposals from France's Socialists are not a "counter-budget," said Patrick Kanner, leader of the party's senators: "For it to be a counter-budget, there would have to be a budget in the first place…"

Just days before the expected fall of Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday, September 8, and his plan for €44 billion in savings, the Socialists' "alternative project for France" already looks like a tool for the post-Bayrou period and future negotiations on forming a government.

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