French government survives no-confidence vote over heatwave handling


FILE PHOTO: A pharmacy sign displays a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius as temperatures rise in Paris during a second heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Alice Sacco/File Photo

PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - ⁠The French government survived a vote of no-confidence ⁠in parliament on Monday over its handling of ‌a severe heatwave in late June.

• Backers of the motion said the government failed to do enough to blunt the effects of ​last month's heatwave in a country ⁠where 2,025 excess ⁠deaths have been recorded so far. French health authorities warned ⁠the ‌number would likely rise.

• The motion, filed by France's Green Party, which needed 289 votes ⁠to pass, was backed by only 132 ​members of ‌parliament.

• "No one is fooled. This motion will not protect ⁠an isolated ​elderly person. It will not cool down a hospital room. It will not modernise a water supply network. ⁠On the contrary, it will add ​a political crisis to climate, healthcare and international crises that the government already must deal with," French Prime Minister ⁠Sebastien Lecornu told lawmakers ahead of the vote.

• The vote took place as firefighters battled a wildfire in southwestern France that has forced the evacuation of 10,000 ​people.

• Early summer heatwaves in France ⁠and across western Europe have made the scorched land ​particularly vulnerable to wildfires this ‌year, and temperatures are set to ​rise again.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Makini Brice and Alex Richardson)

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