Political Instability Meets Fiscal Limits: Is France the Euro’s Next Big Stress Test?

Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik · Sep 10, 2026

With around half a year remaining before the next presidential election, France is in danger of becoming a stress test for the eurozone: a political crisis, a deteriorating fiscal position and growing market doubts about the country’s ability to finance its mounting debt burden are all converging. France faces a significant structural imbalance in its public finances. The budget deficit exceeds 5 per cent of GDP, while public expenditure stands at around 57 per cent of GDP. At the same time, public debt is rising steadily and could, without sufficient fiscal consolidation measures, exceed 130…