The issue of controlling public sector workforce resurfaces during the 2026 budget review. The Senate revived the principle of not replacing one in two retiring civil servants, a measure started under Nicolas Sarkozy. This longstanding debate on the number of civil servants in France spans political eras.
The Senate's review of the 2026 budget on December 6, 2025, reignited a recurring French debate: are there too many civil servants? Senators proposed reinstating the rule of not replacing one in two retiring state employees, a policy implemented during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency (2007-2012). However, this measure failed, as the Lecornu government invoked Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass the budget bill.
This concern dates back centuries. In 1793, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, a key Revolutionary figure, decried the proliferation of '20,000 sots' employed by the government, accusing them of laziness and corrupting the Republic. He urged the Convention to 'diminuer partout le nombre des agents'—reduce the number of agents everywhere. In the early 20th century, Georges Clemenceau quipped about France's fertility: 'La France est un pays extrêmement fertile, on y plante des fonctionnaires, et il y pousse des impôts'—France is an extremely fertile country; you plant civil servants, and taxes grow.
Decades later, in 1996, Prime Minister Alain Juppé criticized the 'mauvaise graisse'—bad fat—of the public service, highlighting the state's payroll costs. These arguments, blending politics and economics, highlight a persistent obsession in French history with reining in public sector spending.
