Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu refuses to suspend budget decisions until the 2027 presidential election and warns that deficit targets for 2026 will be "difficult to achieve".
Ten months after taking office at Matignon, Sébastien Lecornu intends to take action on the budgetary front. In an interview published Wednesday by Paris Match, the Prime Minister stated his intention to implement "structural reforms, even modest ones," in the next budget, which he hopes to have adopted "this winter," well before the presidential election scheduled for May 2027.
“We cannot suspend all decisions until 2027,” he warned, deeming the level of debt and deficit “worrying, even serious,” as it “limits our freedom of action and puts us in a vulnerable position.” He said he was “not very optimistic” about meeting the deficit targets for 2026 and 2027. The 5% of GDP threshold in 2026 will be “difficult to reach,” Economy Minister Roland Lescure had already acknowledged in early July.
Lecornu points to two aggravating factors: "The war in Iran and its impact on energy prices weigh heavily on 2026," compounded by "the additional cost of our armed forces' activities in the Gulf ." For 2027, he makes the results contingent on the government's ability to implement reforms.
On the substance, the head of government advocates for "fiscal stability" while not ruling out "examining the effectiveness of certain tax loopholes" and strengthening the fight against fraud. Regarding healthcare spending, he proposes reducing reimbursements for medications with "limited therapeutic benefit" and imposing a contribution on those insured who purchase more than 50 boxes of medication per year or consult a doctor more than 25 times annually, "while protecting the most socially vulnerable." He also envisions a "budgetary bonus-malus" system between ministries to encourage investment in digital technology and artificial intelligence.
Without a parliamentary majority and with a presidential campaign looming, the situation remains perilous. Lecornu nevertheless issued a warning to the candidates for the Élysée Palace : those who would seek to block any budget this fall "would be taking responsibility for condemning their own first year in office." The budget debate, he believes, will be "a moment of truth," allowing the government to distinguish "those who truly want to govern from those who simply want to campaign."
The Prime Minister must also manage a controversy over an agricultural law authorizing the reintroduction of a pesticide banned in France but permitted in the European Union . His Minister for Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, opposes it and may leave the government. Lecornu assures her of his confidence, but reminds her that members of the government must "find the balance between their personal convictions and the compromises they must reach" with parliamentarians.
