Eurozone meltdown as bloc’s ‘survival at risk’ over imploding French government

France’s soaring debt is putting off potential investors who now put it in the same bracket as Greece, a Brussels insider has said.

With Prime Minister Michel Barnier facing a no-confidence vote later today and President Emmanuel Macron’s Government on the verge of implosion, Pieter Cleppe believes the time may come when the country’s economic woes could even threaten the very future of the eurozone itself.

France’s national debt as a proportion of GDP stood at 110.6% as of December 2023 – the most recent figures available, according to the Trading Economics website. Greece’s national debt is 173%of its GDP

This compares with 95.6% for the UK and 65% for Germany, traditionally seen as the lynchpin of the monetary union.

Mr Cleppe, the editor of believes the country’s turbulent political situation is a reflection of deeper woes.

He told : “Investors now consider France’s debt as just as risky as Greece’s, but of course in the end, the European Central Bank will be ready to bail out France once again, as it always does.

“For now, this will not threaten the survival of the eurozone, but at some point, if the French government refuses to rein in its runaway spending, it will.”

He explained: “That’s because Germany may be sick and tired of having to pay the bill through depreciation of savings.”

French politicians had “notoriously refused to balance the books” for decades, Mr Cleppe continued.

He said: “Even deeply modest reforms of the welfare state are being resisted politically.

“Any tinkering with the unsustainable pension system is being attacked.

“Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is holding the balance of power. A new Parliamentary election is only possible next Summer, meaning there is some Constitutional unclarity as to what happens when the current government no longer enjoys support from Parliament.

“According to some, Le Pen hopes that the political crisis will help her enter into power, but then the next is only due for 2027.”

France’s minority government seems to be in its death throes today as opposition lawmakers from both the left and the far right committed to ousting Mr Barnier.

The no-confidence vote is scheduled for later today in the National Assembly. Deputies are likely to punish the ’s former chief negotiator for using article 49.3 of the French constitution to force through his Budget without their permission.

If they do so and Mr Barnier quits, his Cabinet would be the shortest-lived government in France’s modern history, marking an unprecedented period of political instability.

Mr Macron would then have the challenging task of appointing a new prime minister.