French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday (19 January) that the government will use special constitutional powers to force the passage of the 2026 budget without a parliamentary vote, despite earlier pledges to avoid doing so.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Paris, Lecornu said he would invoke Article 49.3 of the French constitution to bypass a vote on the income side of the finance bill, acknowledging that the decision meant reversing a previous commitment.

“I am doing it with regret,” Lecornu told journalists, saying the move was necessary to avoid political deadlock and instability.

Under Article 49.3, the government can pass legislation unless a no-confidence motion is adopted. Lecornu said he plans to formally trigger the mechanism on Tuesday (20 January) in the lower house, before the bill moves to the Senate.

The decision follows months of negotiations as the centrist government sought enough backing to ensure it could survive a confidence vote. Lecornu said consensus-building efforts had yielded mixed results, working on some elements such as social security but stalling on broader fiscal issues.

He rejected claims of secret political deals, saying talks had been limited to technical discussions on amendments in parliament.

The government expects the budget to be definitively adopted in the first half of February, according to an official.

France has faced rare political turbulence in recent months, with President Emmanuel Macron losing two governments as lawmakers struggled to agree on deficit-cutting measures. Analysts say while opposition parties remain critical of the budget, many are reluctant to trigger new elections with the far right leading opinion polls.

What is Article 49.3 of the French Constitution?

Article 49.3 is a special provision in France’s constitution that allows the government to pass legislation without a vote in the National Assembly by formally putting its own survival on the line.

When Article 49.3 is invoked, a bill is considered adopted unless lawmakers pass a motion of no confidence within a limited time frame. If such a motion succeeds, the government is forced to resign and the bill is rejected. If it fails, the bill becomes law.

The mechanism is most commonly used for budget and social security bills, where its use is unrestricted. Following a 2008 constitutional reform, governments are otherwise limited to using Article 49.3 only once per parliamentary session for non-budget legislation.

Supporters argue Article 49.3 is necessary to prevent political paralysis when no clear majority exists. Critics say it undermines parliamentary debate by bypassing a direct vote.

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The provision has repeatedly been at the centre of political controversy, particularly during periods of minority or fragmented government.

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