
French President Emmanuel Macron talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, England, on July 18, 2024. Hollie Adams/Getty Images
Warning lights are flashing in London and Paris as economists caution that rising debt, fragile politics, and market unease are straining the coffers of Britain and France, Europe’s second- and third-largest economies, respectively.
Neither country faces an immediate financial crisis, analysts say, but both are vulnerable to the kind of debt build-up, shaky fiscal credibility, and political struggles that have often preceded crises in the past.