Senators completed their examination of the draft Social Security budget for 2026 in the evening from Tuesday to Wednesday, reducing the Social Security deficit to 17.6 billion euros according to the government, a figure almost the same as the executive’s initial target. The upper house, which is dominated by the right wing, will vote on the entire Social Security financing bill on Wednesday afternoon and will approve it without difficulty because it is clear that the majority already has a majority.
A joint committee (CMP) bringing together deputies and senators will convene at 7.30pm, and this, barring any major surprises, will end in failure, so the text will be sent back for another reading to the National Assembly next week. After a week of debate in the Senate, the upper house clearly revised the deputies’ copy, increasing the Social Security deficit to around 24 billion euros by 2026.
“Ultimately, the balance of the basic Social Security scheme in 2026, resulting from the debate in the Senate, will amount to 17.6 billion euros, or close to the 17.5 billion figure stated in the government’s initial text”, Health Minister Stéphanie Rist concluded at the end of the session. The senators have set exactly this goal, without hesitation to return to the important measures added to the National Assembly, such as the CSG increase in capital, which was obtained by the left.
They also reinstated many of the abolished measures, such as freezing social benefits and pensions, with the exception of pensions under 1,400 euros. Or the application of additional fees to mutual insurance companies. Most importantly, they rejected the suspension of pension reform, a major concession from Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to the socialists to avoid censorship.
Increased working hours
Senators also voted for a measure that increased annual work hours by twelve hours. After estimating the figure at two billion euros in recent days, the government finally revised its estimates, estimating that the figure “will not lead to a mechanical increase in effective working hours from 2026”.
“In a few days, we suffered a lot of losses,” said the centrist general rapporteur, Élisabeth Doineau, with a smile, and lamented that the executive only stuck “to the letter of the system and not to the spirit”.
According to him, the Social Security deficit could even be reduced by another three billion – and thus fall below 15 billion – by taking into account the “general assistance” reforms that burden businesses, which were implemented last year. But this will depend on a vote on the state budget bill, which is examined starting Thursday in the Senate.
