France’s prime minister has announced a confidence vote next month that likely will lead to the collapse of his centrist government and prompt more political instability in the European Union’s second

France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou will ask parliament to back his strategy for cutting the country’s public deficit in a surprise vote on September 8, putting his premiership on the line as the opposition hardens its criticism.

France could find itself heading for another snap parliamentary election, a government minister suggested on Tuesday, after opposition parties said they would vote to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and as French markets tumbled.