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18m ago

French Assembly Backs Social Security Budget, Freezing Pension Reform

The narrow win followed a pledge to pause Macron’s pension overhaul to secure Socialist votes.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu looks on at France's National Assembly as parliament members vote on a national health care budget that would suspend Macron's unpopular pension reform raising the retirement age, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu looks on at France's National Assembly as parliament members vote on a national health care budget that would suspend Macron's unpopular pension reform raising the retirement age, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Image
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, second right, listens to French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, left, at France's National Assembly as parliament members vote on a national health care budget that would suspend Macron's unpopular pension reform raising the retirement age, in Paris, France, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Overview

  • The National Assembly approved the social security budget 247–234, a key step for Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s 2026 spending plan.
  • The bill suspends the 2023 retirement-age increase until after the 2027 presidential election to win Socialist support.
  • The measure now goes to the Senate, where leaders oppose freezing the pension reform, before returning to the lower house.
  • Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and other right-wing groups opposed the plan, arguing the government conceded too much to the left.
  • Lecornu had warned defeat would leave roughly a €30 billion funding gap for healthcare, pensions and welfare, threatening the broader budget.