No Zucman tax on the super-rich, nor any suspension of the contested 2023 pension reform. Some had imagined that, in order to pass the 2026 budget, France's new prime minister would make one or two gestures toward the Socialists, whose approval seems necessary given the lack of a majority for President Emmanuel Macron's coalition in the Assemblée Nationale. That did not happen. In an interview with Le Parisien, published Friday, September 26, Sébastien Lecornu remained vague about his budget plans but immediately dismissed the two main demands of the Socialists. Lecornu, a loyal supporter of Macron, seems determined to maintain the current economic policy, far from the "rupture" he promised on day one.

Regarding the pension system, it "will be a good debate for the 2027 presidential election," said Lecornu, brushing aside the issue. In the meantime, he added that suspending the reform "would solve none of the problems" that remain. Case closed.

The Zucman tax, a proposed 2% wealth tax on the 1,800 richest households, has become another rallying cry for the left. "You would have to be deaf not to hear that the French are asking us for greater tax justice," admitted Lecornu. But the proposal is not the right solution, he argued, echoing several arguments made by the concerned millionaires and billionaires.

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