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Lawmakers in France’s lower house, the National Assembly, approved a measure on Wednesday to suspend controversial pension reforms.
The vote passed by 255 votes to 146, following major concessions made by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecorne to the Socialist Party to avoid condemnation and ensure the survival of the government.
France’s budget deliberations have taken on added significance since President Emmanuel Macron’s snap election last year left parliament dysfunctional and earlier this year, when MPs voted to fire Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took an unprecedented vote of confidence in his controversial 2026 budget.
Investors and some European partners are closely watching the political turmoil as the country, which has had five prime ministers in just two years, struggles to rein in the eurozone’s biggest budget deficit.
France’s public deficit will reach 5.8% of GDP in 2024, totaling 168.6 billion euros, well above the limit allowed by EU rules.
Lawmakers approved suspending pension reform, but that would require supporting the entire Social Security bill in a final vote at a later stage.
After a rocky start, Lecorne’s second attempt to form a government has made some progress, with some of the budget passed by parliament thanks to expensive concessions.
One of the biggest trade-offs was a proposal to the Socialist Party to suspend Macron’s plan to raise the pension age to 64, effectively keeping the retirement age at 62 years and 9 months until after the 2027 presidential election.
“3.5 million French people will be able to retire early. We are proving that betting on consensus can pay off,” Socialist lawmaker Melanie Tomin said after the vote.
However, concessions on pensions and other spending cuts could significantly undermine the government’s goal of cutting the budget deficit by 30 billion euros.
The revised estimate has not yet been made public, and the final form of the budget remains unclear.
