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French Assembly Overwhelmingly Rejects 2026 Budget Revenues, Sending Original Draft to the Senate

The government signals compromise talks, with a 'special law' prepared if no budget passes before year‑end.

Overview

  • After roughly 125 hours of debate, deputies voted 404 against, 1 for and 84 abstentions to defeat the revenues chapter, stopping the first reading and triggering transmission of the government’s initial bill to the Senate.
  • Only one deputy, Harold Huwart (Liot), backed the text as parties across the spectrum opposed a version the government labeled “insincere” after hundreds of amendments reshaped it.
  • The Senate, led by a right‑center majority, will start from the original draft next week and is expected to unwind many Assembly tax hikes in favor of spending restraint.
  • Matignon says it is pursuing a compromise to avert disruption, while preparing a temporary ‘loi spéciale’ to extend current rules if no budget is adopted by the year’s end; recourse to 49.3 has been floated by LR’s Philippe Juvin, and ordonnances are discussed but not favored by the executive.
  • Key sticking points included major new levies such as an LFI-backed measure on multinationals estimated around €26 billion, with the scale of the rejection described across outlets as unprecedented in the Fifth Republic.