France adopted a 2026 government budget bill on Monday, February 2, after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived the latest in a string of no-confidence motions that followed months of fraught negotiations.
Lawmakers rejected two no-confidence motions tabled by the radical left and far-right parties, after the premier forced his budget bill through parliament without a vote on Friday, for the third and final time. The outcome cleared the way for the budget’s final approval after four months of political deadlock over government spending.
The stalemate had pushed Lecornu last month to make an about-face on his pledge not to force the budget through parliament without a vote, a decision he called a “partial failure.” Yet the 39-year-old premier survived the latest challenges after making concessions to gain the backing of the Socialists – a key swing group in parliament.
No-confidence motions fail
Speaking ahead of Monday’s no-confidence votes, Lecornu criticized opposition parties, saying they want to “reject everything,” notably targeting the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) parties, who sought to bring his government down. Motions tabled by LFI, the Greens and other left-wing groups drew 260 of the 289 votes needed to oust the the government. The far-right motion secured only 135 votes.
Lecornu had weathered two previous rounds of no-confidence motions, also triggered by his use of the constitutional provision known as Article 49.3 to push the bill through parliament in earlier stages of the process.
Deficit-cutting effort
The budget bill aims to cut France’s deficit to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026, down from 5.4% in 2025, after the government eased back on an earlier target of 4.7%.
France is under pressure from the European Union to rein in its debt-to-GDP ratio – the bloc’s third-highest after Greece and Italy – which is close to twice the EU’s 60% ceiling.
To do so, the budget bill includes higher taxes on some businesses, which are expected to bring in about €7.3 billion ($8.6 billion) in 2026, though the Socialists failed to secure backing for a proposed wealth tax on the super-rich.
The Socialists did, however, win several sought-after measures, including a €1 meal system for students and an increase in a top-up payment for low-income workers.
The plan also boosts military spending by €6.5 billion, a move the premier last week described as the “heart” of the budget.
State spending row
In December, lawmakers narrowly adopted the 2026 social security budget bill, part of the government’s broader spending plan, postponing an unpopular pension reform until January 2028, after President Emmanuel Macron’s term in office ends.
They failed to reach a compromise on the state budget bill, complicated by a tug-of-war between the right-leaning Sénat, which pushed for spending cuts and the lower house, where no wing has a majority and the left demanded more tax income.
The country has been bogged down in political crises since Macron called snap parliamentary elections in 2024, in which he lost his parliamentary majority. Lecornu was named premier in September, and then reappointed the following month, after he stepped down. His two predecessors were both toppled by parliament over cost-cutting measures.
