France on Monday adopted its 2026 government budget after months of negotiation and repeated no-confidence motions against Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s minority cabinet.
“France finally has a budget,” Lecornu wrote on X after the vote, calling the result a “parliamentary compromise” that curbs public spending without raising taxes on households and businesses.
Lecornu survived challenges from both the hard left and the far right and advanced the bill while invoking constitutional measures that avoided a full parliamentary vote. In two confidence motions, 260 deputies from left-wing groups and 135 from the far right voted against the centre-left government—short of the 289 votes needed to topple the cabinet in the 577-seat National Assembly. Lecornu is the fourth prime minister in two years and has faced eight no-confidence attempts from political extremes.
Major elements of the approved package include a target to reduce the deficit to 5% of GDP and higher levies on some companies, notably an extra charge on large firms’ profits projected to raise about €7.3 billion in 2026. Defence spending is a prominent feature, with an additional €6.5 billion allocated—a measure Lecornu described as the “heart” of the budget. President Emmanuel Macron has advocated increased defence outlays to address perceived threats from Russia and nuclear proliferation, as well as terrorism and cyberattacks.
In December, lawmakers narrowly approved the social security portion of the plan but failed to reach agreement on state operating expenses. The budget fight unfolds amid continued political instability since Macron called a parliamentary vote in 2024 that left his coalition without an outright majority.
Edited by: Rana Taha