At the start of 2025, France operated without a budget for a month and a half, thanks to a minimalist "special law" that renewed the previous year's credits. The exceptional scenario, which the country had not experienced in 45 years, is looking increasingly likely to recur. The crisis triggered by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's resignation on October 6, just a week before the expected presentation of the draft 2026 budget bill, jeopardizes the adoption of a budget within the constitutionally set timeframe. There is now a high risk that the public deficit will remain uncontrolled and that the financial markets will penalize France.

"The government was already cutting it close to submit a budget to the Assemblée Nationale on time," said Eric Coquerel, a left-wing chair of the Assemblée Nationale's Finance Committee. "With Sébastien Lecornu's resignation, I don't see how we can manage it."

Jean-François Husson, the conservative budget rapporteur in the Sénat, shared the sentiment. "Adopting the budget before December 31 seems highly unlikely, unless there is a last-minute turnaround, which I doubt," he said.

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