France's LFI files no-confidence motion over EU-Mercosur trade deal

Paris [France], January 10: France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) on Friday filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's government, accusing it of failing to defend France's interests over the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement.
Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI parliamentary group, said on X that France had been "humiliated" in Brussels by the trade deal.
Earlier on Friday, member states of the European Union (EU) gave provisional backing to the EU-Mercosur free trade deal in a qualified-majority vote, paving the way for the bloc to formally sign it in Paraguay, according to EU sources. France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary opposed the deal, while Belgium abstained.
The no-confidence initiative comes a day after Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, said his party would also file a similar motion over the EU-Mercosur agreement.
Lecornu rejected the motion, saying on X that the move reflected a deliberate choice to highlight domestic political divisions and weaken France's voice, rather than demonstrate unity in defending the country's agricultural sector.
Source: Xinhua News Agency