The French Senate (upper house of parliament) has voted against adopting the country’s draft budget for 2026, which was previously approved by the National Assembly (lower house of parliament).
Elchi.az reported this with reference to TASS.
It was noted that 203 senators opposed the law, while 32 were in favor of further discussion of the draft budget. Most right-wing and centrist parties, as well as left-wing opposition forces, did not support this version of the budget.
The final reading will take place on Friday (January 30 – Note) in the National Assembly, and observers believe that the government will use its right under Article 49, paragraph 3 of the country’s constitution to adopt the budget under its own responsibility, bypassing parliament.
After that, the opposition parties will most likely put motions of no confidence in the cabinet to a vote again, and only after these are rejected will the budget be considered adopted. If the parliament supports the resignation of the government, the budget process will start again.
The government’s 2026 draft budget law envisages a reduction in spending in all areas except defense, where spending is expected to increase by 6.7 billion euros.