Overview
- Speaking at 20:00 from the Élysée, Emmanuel Macron is expected to frame 2026 as a year of action without unveiling major new measures.
- He will highlight three domestic priorities for the coming months: launching cohorts for a voluntary national service, proposing tighter regulation of social networks, and advancing end‑of‑life legislation.
- The end‑of‑life bills are scheduled to reach the Senate from around 20 January before returning to the National Assembly, with a difficult path anticipated given likely resistance in the upper chamber.
- On foreign policy, the address will stress European security and support for Ukraine, with a Paris meeting of the "coalition of volunteers" in early January to work on security guarantees whose framework remains unclear.
- His push comes as the 2026 budget remains unadopted and his approval hovers near 25%, and after last year's floated referendum failed to materialize though it remains a tool he could still consider.