French deputies resumed debates on the 2026 social security financing bill on December 2 in a tense atmosphere marked by divisions within the government coalition. The text, amended by the Senate which removed the suspension of pension reform, risks rejection without compromise with the left. A solemn vote is scheduled for December 9, with crucial stakes for the deficit and government stability.
The 2026 social security financing bill (PLFSS) returned to the French National Assembly on December 2 for a second reading, following a failed joint committee last week and deep amendments in the Senate. The upper house removed the suspension of pension reform, initially conceded by the government in exchange for Parti Socialiste (PS) support against a no-confidence motion.
Debates on around 900 amendments will continue until Sunday, December 7, with a preliminary vote on the revenues section midway. Rejection would doom the entire bill, followed by a solemn vote on December 9. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, betting on negotiation without using Article 49.3, faces internal divisions: Edouard Philippe's Horizons party announced it would not vote for the text as is. « We cannot vote for it », Philippe stated to his group, while deputy Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé criticized a budget « that renounces assuming the real cost of its choices, that weakens work, that threatens equity between generations ».
The government is negotiating with the left, particularly PS leader Olivier Faure, who lashed out at Philippe and Bruno Retailleau (LR): « If Edouard Philippe and Bruno Retailleau think there aren't enough chaos engineers, let them say so ». Ecologists, through Cyrielle Chatelain, demand progress without compensating for presidential camp defections. The Rassemblement National (RN), UDR group, and La France Insoumise (LFI), totaling 210 deputies, firmly oppose the bill.
Without adoption by December 31, the social security deficit could reach 30 billion euros, against a 20 billion target for 2026 set by Minister Amélie de Montchalin. Measures like reindexing social minima and pensions to inflation, increasing CSG on capital income, and doubling medical franchises are battlegrounds. Spokesperson Maud Bregeon pleaded for a multipartisan compromise: « This text will be neither Macronist, nor socialist, nor right-wing ».
