Paris – 12 December 2025 – The French Senate on Friday delivered a crushing blow to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s minority government by rejecting the entire 2026 Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) in a single procedural vote. By adopting a “preliminary question” – a parliamentary mechanism that kills a bill before any debate on its content – the right-wing and centrist-dominated upper house blocked the text that had only narrowly passed the National Assembly three days earlier.
The bill now returns to the National Assembly for a final reading on Tuesday 16 December, where the lower house – currently controlled by a fragile left-of-centre majority – will have the last word. If the Assembly votes the same text again, it becomes law regardless of the Senate’s opposition.
The Senate’s rejection was driven by fierce opposition to the bill’s most controversial measure: the temporary suspension of Emmanuel Macron’s 2023 pension reform. That reform, which gradually raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, was forced through Parliament without a vote using Article 49.3 of the Constitution and triggered months of nationwide protests and strikes.
Last month, the National Assembly voted overwhelmingly (255–146) to freeze the age increase at 62 years and nine months until January 2028 – effectively postponing the most unpopular part of the reform until after the 2027 presidential election. The Senate, led by Les Républicains (LR) and centrist allies, has consistently refused to accept any rollback, calling the suspension “fiscally irresponsible” and a “dangerous precedent”.
The 2026 Social Security budget forecasts a €19.6 billion deficit for the social security branch alone and a wider public finance gap of around €168 billion. The pension suspension is estimated to cost €300 million in 2026 and nearly €2 billion in 2027, adding to France’s already strained public finances at a time when the country faces an EU excessive deficit procedure and negative credit outlook warnings from rating agencies.
Tuesday’s vote in the National Assembly had been a major political victory for Prime Minister Lecornu: the bill passed 247–234 with 93 abstentions, thanks to crucial support from the Socialist Party and Greens in exchange for the pension freeze and several social spending concessions. The far-left France Unbowed (LFI) and the far-right National Rally both voted against, but for opposite reasons – LFI demanding a full repeal of the reform, RN calling the budget “reckless spending”.
The Senate’s outright rejection revives the risk of a broader budgetary deadlock. The government must also secure passage of the separate 2026 State Budget Bill (PLF) before the end of the year; failure to do so would trigger automatic continuation of 2025 spending levels into mid-2026 – a scenario markets and Brussels view with alarm.
Political reactions were swift and bitter. Senate LR leader Bruno Retailleau accused the government of “buying votes with future generations’ money”. Socialist leader Boris Vallaud celebrated the lower house vote as “a victory for workers” and vowed the Assembly would stand firm next week. Prime Minister Lecornu, speaking after the Senate vote, insisted the bill “protects the French while restoring our accounts” and expressed confidence it would be adopted in its current form.
With France’s public debt exceeding 112 % of GDP and borrowing costs rising, the coming days will test whether Lecornu’s fragile coalition can hold together long enough to avoid a full-blown government crisis before Christmas.
