France’s Socialists demanded major budget concessions yesterday in exchange for their support of President Emmanuel Macron‘s fifth and latest Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu. His predecessor, Prime Minister François Bayrou, was ousted from office over plans for a 44-billion-euro budget squeeze. France faces huge pressure to lower its budget deficit – almost double the European Union’s permitted 3% ceiling — and a debt amounting to 114% of GDP. Should the Socialists press too hard, however, they could exacerbate France’s political crisis, leaving Macron no option but to call snap parliamentary elections. Socialist MP Philippe Brun maintains the party is open to compromise because, like France’s other political parties, it too lacks a parliamentary majority.