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French National Assembly Passes Emergency Stopgap to Keep Government Running in January

The stopgap keeps 2025 rules in force to sustain tax collection plus public pay, with new spending off-limits.

Parliament members sit as France's National Assembly 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)
France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, is under pressure to rein in its deficit and soaring debt

Overview

  • Lawmakers in the lower house approved a brief “special law” on Tuesday and sent it to the Senate to avert a shutdown at the start of the year.
  • The measure allows the state to continue collecting taxes and paying civil servants from January 1 based on 2025 budget levels.
  • New expenditures are prohibited under the law, including defence outlays, creating immediate constraints on priorities.
  • Negotiations for a full 2026 budget collapsed in a deeply split parliament divided among the National Rally, left-wing parties, and Macron’s centrist minority.
  • Finance Minister Roland Lescure warned the temporary setup grows more costly the longer it lasts, as the government prepares January talks with a goal of pushing the deficit below 5% of GDP.