France is desperately searching for a government
Party rivalry threatens deadlock before compromise
![French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at the National Assembly](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240713_EUP003.jpg)
After the relief, the confusion. France pulled back from the brink on July 7th when it rejected Marine Le Pen’s hard right at a final parliamentary vote. The electorate instead relegated her alliance to third place, and returned a hung parliament in which no bloc is close to holding a majority. But this has plunged France into new uncertainty. “Now what do we do?” asked the front page of Le Parisien, a daily paper, above a photo of a perplexed-looking President Emmanuel Macron.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The elusive art of compromise”
Europe July 13th 2024
More from Europe
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240803_EUP507.jpg)
The deal that freed Evan Gershkovich was more than a prisoner swap
It freed Russian prisoners of conscience as well as Westerners taken hostage by Vladimir Putin
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240803_EUP001.jpg)
The Olympics are teaching the French to cheer again
France’s politics is a mess, but the games are glorious
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240803_EUP504.jpg)
Humiliated by Azerbaijan, Armenia tacks towards the West
Courting the EU and America without alienating Russia is a difficult trick
Vienna’s social housing, lauded by progressives, pushes out the poor
The city’s most hard-up rely on the private sector
Will a new “pact” of ten laws help Europe ease its migrant woes?
It will require an extraordinary number of institutions to work together
Amid the bombs, Ukrainians rediscover the beach
Odessa gives itself permission to tan again