France passes economic reforms without vote

Socialist French PM Manuel Valls, invoking special powers, pushed through a pro-business economic reform bill without a vote on Tuesday, a move that drew a quick censure motion and will force the government into a showdown vote for its life. The decision to take recourse to the rarely used special power was made at an emergency Cabinet meeting. The brief session called by President Francois Hollande was part of a dramatic power struggle within the governing Socialist Party, where a group of mavericks contested the bill authored by 37-year-old Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron. It is the first time since 2006 that any government has used a constitutional mechanism to push through a bill without a vote, triggering complaints that the reformist Valls was being authoritarian and short-circuiting parliament. T

I couldn’t risk seeing a plan so crucial to our economy be rejected.

Manuel Valls, French Prime Minister

The bill that is meant to spur growth in France’s stagnant economy, in part by throwing open some shop doors on Sundays, is a centerpiece of Hollande’s economic strategy. Societe Generale analyst Michel Martinez said the bill was a welcome move to cut red tape but “will not change the face of France” and will have a limited macroeconomic impact, boosting GDP by about 0.5 per cent a year within five to 10 years. The Eurozone’s No. 2 largest economy is desperately in need of a boost. France registered a meagre 0.4 percent growth last year and unemployment has refused to come down from record highs around 10 per cent.

Politics