(2 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
AGENCY POOL VIA AP (AFP)
Paris, France – 2 September 2025
1. Wide of conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez (right) arriving at French Prime Minister’s office
2. Mid of French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau arriving and posing for photo
3. French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou greeting press as he enters office
4. Mid of Retailleau and Wauquiez exiting building
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Bruno Retailleau, French Interior Minister:
"I think that on this issue of confidence, we must not misunderstand the meaning of the vote. It is not a question of being for or against the prime minister, the government, or for or against the measures the prime minister proposed last July. The question being asked is whether the astronomical debt weighing on the shoulders of all French people is a threat or not. Well, you won’t get me to answer no to that question, because I have convictions. I believe that politics is also about convictions, and furthermore, for years, we have been saying, I say, my political family says that the debt is a ticking time bomb that could explode on us."
6. Mid of former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal exiting building
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Gabriel Attal, former French Prime Minister: +JUMP CUT+
"And so the question posed on September 8th is whether we believe that bringing down the government will facilitate the adoption of a budget by the end of the year. For us, the answer is no. And for these reasons, of course, we will not vote to bring down the government. This does not mean that we agree entirely with the budget that has been presented. In fact, we were clear as early as July that while we share the ambition of reducing deficits, meaning the volume of savings announced, we disagree on certain measures. For example, I think of the issue of unpaid public holidays. We were clear as early as July that we believe all work deserves pay and that if we ask the French to work more, they should earn more."
8. Wide of Horizons party leader Edouard Philippe arriving
9. Wide of Philippe exiting
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Edouard Philippe, Horizons party leader:
"We have a shared responsibility to recognize that we are not perfect, that we have made mistakes—myself included—but we must discuss and prioritize the interests of the country and the French people. This open-mindedness is mine. I have told the prime minister, it is true today, and it will be true tomorrow. I believe that without open-mindedness, without the ability to discuss, even with political forces with whom we do not fully agree, we achieve nothing and do a disservice to the cause of the French people."
11. Mid of Philippe leaving
STORYLINE:
France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou is scrambling to save his government and his job, holding talks this week with leaders across the political spectrum ahead of a parliamentary confidence vote on his government’s plan to cut public spending.
Opposition parties have already vowed to reject the austerity budget, and Bayrou, a centrist, is widely expected to lose the Sept. 8 confidence vote, pushing France to the brink of another political crisis.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal met with Bayrou on Tuesday afternoon.
Both said after their meetings that bringing down the government was not a solution to the political crisis.
Conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez and Horizons party leader Edouard Philippe also met with the prime minister.
France is also faced with a massive debt crisis.
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