Budget 2027: Scheduled Vote This Tuesday Postponed, Deputies Still Entangled in Revenue Review

The budget marathon continues at the National Assembly. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, the solemn vote on the first part of the 2027 finance bill had to be postponed due to lack of time to complete the review of amendments. As of midnight Monday, 758 proposed amendments were still to be discussed in the Chamber. This delay forces deputies to continue their debates on state revenues, while the government had hoped to begin reviewing expenditures this week.

For several days, parliamentarians have been multiplying fiscal initiatives, sometimes against the executive’s opinion. The Assembly notably adopted amendments strengthening the exit tax, providing for new taxes on share buybacks, and on certain dividends. But these successive votes do not guarantee the adoption of the first part of the budget. In a Palais-Bourbon lacking a stable majority, political groups remain deeply divided on the distribution of the fiscal effort and ways to reduce the public deficit.

A rejection of revenues would interrupt the budget review

The stakes are considerable for the government. If deputies reject the revenue section, the entire finance bill will be considered rejected in the first reading. The Assembly will then be unable to continue reviewing expenditures and the text will be sent to the Senate in its original version, without the amendments adopted by the deputies. This is a prospect considered by several parliamentary leaders, given the oppositions expressed during the debates.

The constitutional timetable nevertheless imposes strict deadlines. The National Assembly has until November 17 to decide in first reading on the budget bill before its transmission to the Senate. The government must therefore deal with a double difficulty: the accumulation of amendments and the absence of a guaranteed majority to adopt the text. While the Minister of Economy Roland Lescure insists on the necessity of voting on a budget before the end of the year, discussions continue without a political compromise emerging at this stage.