Overview
- Lawmakers shifted from the unfinished state-budget receipts to the 2026 social-security bill on 4 November, confronting roughly 2,400–2,500 amendments and a planned 12 November vote.
- The government seeks to cut the Sécurité sociale deficit to €17.5 billion in 2026 from €23 billion in 2025, a trajectory the Cour des comptes says is exposed to strong uncertainties.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has signaled readiness to drop a freeze on pensions and minimum benefits, while the bill includes an article suspending elements of the 2023 pension reform with financing still contested.
- Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin pledged to transmit all Assembly-adopted amendments to the Senate if deadlines slip, as risks grow that the lower house will not complete scrutiny on time.
- The package bundles polarizing steps such as a potential doubling of medical co-pays by decree, limits on initial sick-leave duration, a surtax on complementary health insurers, and a new birth leave, fueling shifting cross-party alliances.