Overview
- The government will file an amendment to lift the departments’ emergency fund from €300 million to €600 million in the 2026 budget, with unchanged criteria the prime minister described as a stopgap to prevent defaults.
- Sébastien Lecornu tasked ministers with reopening the contested DILICO mechanism, proposing caps on its size and the number of departments affected, and signaled openness to granting departments a share of the CSG.
- A bill is planned in December to create a single social benefit merging the activity bonus, RSA and some housing aid, with promised administrative savings and cautions from anti-poverty groups about protecting the most vulnerable.
- Departments’ leaders say 54 are in “quasi-bankruptcy” after roughly €6 billion in new state-imposed costs and €8.5 billion in lost receipts in recent years, while the Cour des comptes identifies 15 in great difficulty.
- Service cuts are spreading locally: Gironde reports a €97 million deficit with college projects dropped and 232 jobs cut, Drôme has closed seven sexual health centers, and many departments have reduced culture and association subsidies.