FRENCH Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has threatened to use special executive powers this week to get his budget approved without a parliamentary vote.

It is expected to trigger a motion of no confidence that could bring down the government.

The confrontation is similar to what happened last December, when a confidence motion triggered by budget disputes forced Mr Bayrou’s predecessor Michel Barnier to resign.

Speaking to La Tribune Dimanche media, Mr Bayrou vowed to use a constitutional tool known as article 49.3, which allows the government to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote but leaves it exposed to confidence motions.

French MPs are set to debate the conclusions of a joint parliamentary committee on the state budget today and will turn their attention to the social security budget later in the week.

“Now we have to go straight to adoption,” Mr Bayrou said. “A country like ours cannot be without a budget. The only way to do that is to make the government responsible.”

The lower-house National Assembly was left with no clear majority after snap elections last June.

The left-wing France Unbowed party has already said it will put forward a motion of no confidence that is expected to win the support of Communist and Green MPs.

However, the far-right National Rally, which has the largest single group in the National Assembly, has not given any voting instructions yet.

The votes of the Socialists, who say they have “obtained a number of reversals from the government” during budget talks in recent weeks, could be decisive for Mr Bayrou’s future.

The Prime Minister announced in January that he was open to renegotiating a plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

A revision of budget plans to limit France’s deficit to 5.4 per cent of gross domestic product this year has also addressed opposition MPs’ concerns.

In addition, a joint committee has retained an extra tax on large companies, while increasing a tax on financial transactions.