Just hours after the results of the first round of France's snap parliamentary elections were announced, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal decided "to suspend the implementation of the unemployment insurance reform," a member of his entourage told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on the evening of Sunday, June 30. This backtracking underlines the government's failure, as the Ensemble presidential coalition came third in the first round of the snap elections, well behind the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party and the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire alliance. "First victory for RN voters! When the people vote, the people win!" wrote RN leader Marine Le Pen on X on Sunday evening.

The unemployment insurance reform, which had been criticized by France's labor unions and many political parties – ranging from the left to the RN, and also including the center-right – was initially due to be the subject of a decree published in France's official gazette before June 30, the date on which the current unemployment insurance benefit rules were due to expire. On Friday, the labor ministry announced that this would, in the end, not be the case and they would be extended until July 1.

To avoid a legal vacuum, as the current unemployment insurance provisions were only due to stay in force until Sunday, a decree extending these rules was published on Monday, in the official gazette, according to the prime minister's office and the labor ministry.

This decision brings a month of the government's procrastination to an end. Under pressure to drop its reform since the Assemblée Nationale was dissolved, it had refused to back down. On June 13, the prime minister asserted that "a decree would be issued by July 1" to implement the law. The day before, Macron had been a little more vague at a press conference, hinting at having thought about the subject in order to take the "electoral period" into account: "It has to be taken up again afterward. Does it have to be done via the Assemblée? Does it have to be done by decree? We'll see on the day after [the election]."

The reform in question was intended to significantly toughen the conditions under which jobseekers could qualify for unemployment insurance from December 1. The bill would have increased the number of working months required to receive unemployment benefits to 8 out of the last 20 months (as opposed to 6 out of 24, as things stand today, for jobseekers who are not considered to be senior citizens). The duration of unemployment benefits would have shortened from 18 to 15 months (with a more favorable system for those aged 57 and over). The measure was intended to save the government €3.6 billion a year.