French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu narrowly secured a vital win as the National Assembly approved the 2026 social security budget by 247 votes to 234 on Tuesday. This marks an important step towards finalising the full state budget due by year-end. The bill now moves to the Senate before returning for a final Assembly vote.
“It’s a good sign that a majority has been found. The immense likelihood now is that the (social security budget) will be adopted definitively,” Assembly Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said.
Appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in September, Lecornu faces a divided Assembly split roughly into three equal factions: centrists, the left-wing Socialists and France Unbowed (LFI), and the far-right National Rally. No group holds a majority, complicating legislative progress.
Lecornu made significant concessions to win support from the Socialists, including suspending the planned retirement age increase to 64 and promising not to use Article 49-3 to pass the budget without a vote. Socialist leaders Olivier Faure and Boris Vallaud praised his compromise and led their MPs to back the bill.
However, some in Lecornu’s centre-right camp criticised the concessions. Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the bill failed to fix France’s worsening public finances, while conservative Bruno Retailleau called it a “fiscal hold-up” leading the country “into a wall.”
Far-left LFI’s Mathilde Panot accused the Socialists of abandoning their principles, saying, “We know now that they’re now no longer in opposition.” The far-right National Rally, the largest party in parliament, also opposed the bill.
Attention now turns to the main budget vote, which must be passed before the end of December. Failure would require Lecornu to use emergency measures to keep government funds flowing based on last year’s budget.
Despite the narrow margin, the vote is seen as a win for Lecornu’s persistent behind-the-scenes efforts to build cross-party support amid political fragmentation.