French lawmakers adopt 2026 social security budget, suspend Macron's flagship pension reform

France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on Tuesday adopted the Social Security Financing Act, the first of two budget bills needed to pass before the December 31 deadline.

The budget was approved by 247 votes to 232.

The social security budget, which includes the temporary suspension of President Emmanuel Macron's flagship pension reform, was a victory for French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

Following months of heated debates, Lecornu succeeded in getting the measure after securing concessions, particularly with the Socialist Party.

The version of the bill lawmakers approved includes the suspension of a 2023 reform to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 – a concession that secured the support of the Socialists, a swing group in parliament.

France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, is under pressure to rein in its deficit and soaring debt, but efforts have been hampered by a political deadlock.

Lecornu, the country's third prime minister in a little over a year, has promised to get a budget through parliament, after the legislature ousted his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures.

The premier – who survived a no-confidence vote in October – also vowed not to use a controversial constitutional power used in the past to ram budget bills through parliament without a vote.

Tuesday's vote marks the first budget adopted without using article 49.3 of the constitution since 2022.

Lawmakers now face mounting pressure to pass a draft state budget bill, with negotiations set to begin on Friday.

Should a joint committee of MPs and senators reach an agreement, the budget would then go to a vote in the lower house, where Socialists have said they would not support it but could abstain, while the Ecologists have pledged to vote against it.

If the two chambers fail to agree on the budget bill by year's end, the government can temporarily extend the budget.

Political gridlock also delayed adoption of France's 2025 budget, with a spending plan approved in February after then-prime minister François Bayrou forced it through the lower house.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)