In an interview with regional dailies on February 7, 2026, one week after Parliament adopted the budget, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu outlined his government's priorities for the year, focusing on consensual measures like decentralization, defense, and energy amid political fragility. He announced the imminent signing of the multi-year energy decree, a government adjustment before February 22, and other initiatives, while addressing challenges and Macron's legacy.
One week after the arduous adoption of the 2026 budget on February 2—requiring reluctant use of Article 49.3—Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reviewed his five months at Matignon in an interview published February 7 in several regional dailies. Described as the 'weakest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic,' he emphasized forging a majority through compromise texts, as seen in the social security budget, and defended the budget's 5% deficit without tax hikes.
Lecornu unveiled a 2026 roadmap prioritizing gradual, consensual advances without major reforms to reach the term's end in May 2027. Key projects include: a new decentralization act in three texts (first before municipal elections); a military programming law presented in April, boosting the 2026 defense budget to 57.2 billion euros (+13%, or +6.7 billion); and the decree publishing the multi-year energy programming (PPE) to 2035, to be signed 'by the end of next week' due to urgency. The PPE, delayed two and a half years by nuclear-renewables debates, includes six EPR reactors (eight optional per Macron's 2022 Belfort pledges), investments in offshore wind, photovoltaics, geothermal, and remotorizing onshore wind to minimize conflicts. It anticipates slower onshore wind/solar growth and promises stable electricity prices via supply strategy.
Other measures: two decrees on state medical aid (AME) for fraud reduction (180 million euros savings) and IT modernization; a country-by-country migration strategy with an AI visa app piloted in five prefectures; and upcoming Macron initiatives on Algeria's 1968 agreement.
Facing no budgetary margin and political threats, the government conceded on pensions (suspended for socialist compromise), supply policy (retaining large firms' surtax, dropping value-added contribution cut), troubling the Macron camp's legacy amid past failures on pensions and ecology. A government 'adjustment' (reshuffle) is set before February 22, ahead of electoral reserve: departures include Rachida Dati (Paris mayor), Marina Ferrari (Aix-les-Bains), Michel Fournier (Les Voivres); Lecornu runs in Vernon. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stays despite 2027 ambitions. Lecornu urges separating government from presidential campaigns amid arenas for figures like Gabriel Attal, Marine Le Pen, Laurent Wauquiez.
This fragile executive bets on regulatory paths and consultation to avoid conflicts, heralding a post-49.3 era of negotiation even for future majorities, resisting populism on end-of-life or agriculture debates.
