Extreme heat returns as a political debate in France, government faces no-confidence motion

In France, the heatwave has also spilled into the political arena, after lawmakers from the Green Party filed a no-confidence motion against the government, accusing it of failing to cope with the extreme situation that has affected the country since the end of June.

The initiative bears the signatures of 32 Green lawmakers, 25 legislators from the far-left party La France Insoumise, and one Socialist lawmaker. It is scheduled to be reviewed in the National Assembly on July 6. However, the chances that this move will bring down the minority government led by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu remain low, as the right-wing National Rally has announced that it will not support it, while the Socialists have so far not voted in favor of similar motions against the executive.

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon attacked the opposition initiative, saying that “the government is managing the crisis, while some political forces are trying to deepen it through the no-confidence motion.” According to French authorities, since June 20, the heatwave affecting Europe has caused at least 1,000 additional deaths in France.

Although temperatures have fallen from the records of recent days, in most of French territory they continue to hover around 30 degrees Celsius. The meteorological service Météo-France has warned that over the weekend and at the start of next week, the country is expected to be hit by another heatwave.

It is still not clear how long it will last, how strong it will be, or what geographic extent this new episode will have. If confirmed, this will be the third heatwave this year, while the first appeared unusually early, as soon as May.