France's prime minister Sébastien Lecornu at the National Assembly in Paris on Tuesday. Photograph: Magali Cohen/ Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty ImagesFrench lawmakers narrowly approved the 2026 social security budget on Tuesday, handing prime minister Sébastien Lecornu a crucial victory but at enormous political cost that could still threaten his fragile government. Socialists backed the bill after Mr Lecornu agreed to freeze president Emmanuel Macron’s landmark 2023 pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election. The government aims to cut France’s budget deficit – already one of the euro zone’s largest – to less than 5 per cent of GDP next year. A banner depicting the French president with the text 'Macron despises the Republic' during a demonstration against the state budget.
