FRANCE: Socialist Party Leaders To Meet w/PM On 3 Oct To Discuss Budget Demands

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is set to hold a second round of talks with the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) on Friday, 3 October, as the former seeks to lay the groundwork for passing a 2026 budget while the latter looks to have its policy demands heeded in exchange for its support (or at least abstention). The first PS-Lecornu, on 17 September, yielded nothing, and as such, the 3 Oct talks are viewed as a major chance for deals to be made.

• The PS' demands remain the same as they were for Lecornu's predecessor, Francois Bayrou, namely the Zucman tax (or an equivalent wealth tax), the suspension of pension reform, and measures to boost household purchasing power.
• Le Parisien reports that the PS' stance is not unified, though. Its left wing seeks to side with the other New Popular Front (NFP) parties and present a censure motion against the Lecornu gov't forthwith. PS leadership prefer to hold pre-budget talks before deciding on censure. Then there are moderates, such as Senator for Val-d'Oise Rachid Temal, calling for the PS to allow a debate on a Lecornu budget to proceed and then make its judgment.
• More bad blood between NFP and gov't comes as the National Assembly elects committee heads under the Lecornu administration. Little change apart from the ouster of Aurelie Trouve (from the far-left La France Insoumise) as chair of the Economic Affairs Committee in favour of Stephane Travert from the pro-Macron Ensemble bloc, who won with support from the far-right Rassemblement National.