The French National Assembly adopted on Tuesday evening, by 247 votes to 234, the 2026 social security financing bill after tense debates and compromises with socialists. This vote marks a victory for Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who avoided using article 49.3 by securing cross-party support. The text includes the suspension of the 2023 pension reform and reduces the deficit to 19.6 billion euros.
The vote on the 2026 social security financing bill (PLFSS) unfolded in an atmosphere of suspense at the National Assembly. Adopted in second reading by 247 votes for and 234 against, the text benefited from unanimous support from Macronists and MoDem centrists, as well as the majority of PS socialists. Eighteen Les Républicains (LR) deputies and nine from Horizons also voted in favor, while ecologists largely abstained, allowing the government to cross the threshold.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu hailed on X a 'majority of responsibility' advancing 'in the interest of the general good.' This unprecedented compromise, the result of intense negotiations, includes the suspension of the 2023 pension reform, a 3% increase in health insurance spending (ONDAM), the abandonment of medical franchise hikes, and avoidance of pension freezes. The social security deficit is projected at 19.6 billion euros in 2026, down from 23 billion in 2025, despite costly measures like tax exemption on overtime hours.
Oppositions reacted sharply. Mathilde Panot (LFI) accused the PS of joining 'the camp of government supporters,' while Jordan Bardella (RN) denounced a 'compromission' and reached out to right-wing voters. Olivier Faure (PS) congratulated himself on securing advances for social justice, urging the government to adopt the same approach for the state budget. Bruno Retailleau (LR) called the text 'a budget that is not good for France.'
This vote is not final: the text returns to the Senate for review before a final passage in the Assembly. It highlights the fragility of an Assembly without an absolute majority, where compromises become the norm to avoid budgetary chaos.
