The approval of all three sections of the bill — revenue, expenditure, and the current-year accounts — marks the first time since 2022 that a Social Security budget has passed the lower house without the government resorting to Article 49.3 of the Constitution, the controversial mechanism that forces a bill through without a vote and risks a no-confidence motion.
Prime Minister Lecornu immediately welcomed the result on social media, calling it “progress in the general interest” and describing the text as a “solid, useful, protective” reform that “concretely improves” France’s social security system. He emphasised that the projected deficit, while still high at just under €20 billion, represents a clear improvement on the €23 billion shortfall expected this year and the €30 billion that would have materialised without action.
The spending component had already been adopted earlier on Tuesday by 227 votes to 86, following approval of the revenue section last Friday.
In a major concession to secure left-wing support, lawmakers also voted overwhelmingly on Friday to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s highly contested 2023 pension reform — which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 — until after the next presidential election in 2027. The Senate had previously rejected the suspension, but the Assembly overrode that decision.
The bill now heads to the Senate for review before returning to the National Assembly for a final reading. Given the upper house’s conservative majority, significant amendments are expected, potentially forcing further negotiations or even another high-stakes vote in the lower chamber before the end of the year.
Lecornu’s minority government has been walking a political tightrope since taking office in September 2024. With no overall majority following the 2024 snap legislative elections, every major bill has required delicate deal-making across the fractured political spectrum. The successful passage of the Social Security budget without Article 49.3 is being presented by the government as proof that compromise is still possible in France’s deeply divided parliament.
Opposition reactions were sharply divided. The centre-left Socialists claimed credit for forcing the pension-reform suspension and softening some of the originally planned savings measures. Conservatives denounced what they called a “budget of surrender” to the left, while the far-right National Rally largely boycotted the final votes.
For ordinary French citizens, the 2026 Social Security budget will shape healthcare reimbursements, pension payments, family allowances, and sickness benefits for the coming year. Despite the deficit reduction, the government insists there will be no broad cuts to services and has highlighted new investments in hospitals, mental health, and support for the elderly.
As France grapples with a public debt approaching €3 trillion and pressure from Brussels to bring its deficit below 3% of GDP, the narrow approval of this bill offers Lecornu some breathing room — but only temporarily. The much larger general state budget, due for debate later this month, is expected to prove an even tougher test.
For now, the government can claim a hard-fought win. Whether it can repeat the feat in the coming weeks will determine not only the fate of the 2026 budget but also the survival of Lecornu’s administration in an increasingly unpredictable political landscape.
