Overview
- After deputies rejected the revenue section 404–1 with 84 abstentions, the government’s original 2026 budget text went to the right-led Senate and all Assembly-added amendments were erased.
- The Senate began examining the unamended bill and intends deep changes, with a revenue vote expected around December 4 and a first-reading vote on the full text targeted for December 15.
- Sébastien Lecornu announced thematic votes in the coming weeks, starting with defence, and set five priorities including a deficit target below roughly 5–5.3% of GDP, state reform/decentralisation, energy and agriculture.
- The government says it will not use Article 49.3 and, at this stage, rules out ordinances, while a provisional “loi spéciale” to extend the 2025 budget is discussed by many as a fallback if deadlines are missed.
- Key constitutional cutoffs loom—December 12 for the social-security budget and December 23 for the state budget—raising warnings about an institutional and economic impasse if no agreement is reached.