French parliament approves bill to roll over budget, avoiding shutdown

PARIS - France's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, on Monday approved a special law designed to maintain core state functions and prevent any interruption of public services, three days after President Emmanuel Macron named Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister of 2024.

The French constitution allows for a special law to be passed in parliament that rolls over the tax-raising and spending provisions in the current budget to ensure there is no U.S.-style government shut down in the absence of a proper budget bill.

The law is intended to act as a stopgap until France's deeply divided parliament passes next year's proper budget bill drafted by the new Bayrou government, most likely in early 2025.

The Senate, the upper house of the Parliament, will examine the law on Wednesday. It must be enacted before Dec 31 to ensure uninterrupted public services.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter)