Macron said that he intended to name a new prime minister "in the coming days" to head up a "government of general interest" to encompass parties across the political spectrum.
He said: "I will charge him or her with forming a government of general interest representing all the political forces of an arc of government which can participate in it or, at the very least, which undertakes not to bring it down."
The president was speaking in a live TV address to the nation on the day that prime minister Michel Barnier resigned - after just 90 days in office - after losing a confidence vote in the parliament.
He said that the government's first job in January would be to put together a Budget for 2025.
The fall of the Barnier government also leaves France without a Budget for next year, Macron said there would be a "special law" proposal in parliament in mid-December to address this, saying; "I refuse to let the French pay the bill for this collapse".
This will allow France to rollover the 2024 budget into 2025 in order to avoid a US-style shutdown.
Taxes, pensions and bills - what the French budget crisis means for your wallet
After saying that he took responsibility for his errors - and acknowledging that many blame him for calling snap elections in the summer of 2024 - Macron accused the far right and the hard left of uniting in an "anti-Republican front" in order to bring down the government.
He said: "Rassemblement National [Marine Le Pen's far right party] chose to vote for a motion that said the opposite of their programme, that insulted their own voters.
"They chose disorder, which is the only project that unites them with the far left . . . who don't want to 'do', but to 'undo'".
Since the fall of the government there have been calls for Macron himself to resign in order to spark new presidential elections. This had always been thought unlikely, and Macron firmly ruled this out in his TV address, vowing to remain until the end of his mandate in 2027, and laying out his priorities for "the next 30 months".
OPINION No end in sight for France's world political crisis since 1958
He said: "The mandate that you gave to me democratically (in 2022 elections) is a five-year mandate and I will exercise it fully, right up to the end."
He said that Le Pen's party had its eyes on the 2027 presidential elections, accusing them of seeking to sow "chaos".
"They are not thinking about your lives, let's be honest. They are thinking of just one thing - the presidential election," said Macron, who cannot stand again in 2027 after serving two terms.
But he admitted his decision to call snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament, "was not understood".
"Many have blamed me for it and I know, many continue to blame me. It's a fact and it's my responsibility," he said.
Comments (1)