2026 Budget: The possibility of a "blank year" is "not ruled out," according to the government spokesperson

"Finding 40 billion is very ambitious," Sophie Primas told Franceinfo. "All avenues are being explored, without taboos." This includes the idea of ​​a "blank year," extending spending without taking inflation into account. "It's not a proposal that's been ruled out; it needs to be considered like the others," she said.

This is, moreover, "a hypothesis that the Senate is working on," whose proposals the government "will listen to carefully," the minister emphasized. The upper house will indeed unveil its recommendations "at the beginning of July," and its president, Gérard Larcher, believes that "a budget freeze can be implemented intelligently," without affecting "the sovereign, which must remain outside the blueprint."

A point of view shared by Sophie Primas, particularly in matters of defense where "we must follow the military programming law (which) is one of the data in the 2026 budget, but also from 2027 (and) until 2030." However, the government "is obviously looking at the major items of state expenditure," but also those in the "social sphere" where the health insurance system predicts an explosion of its deficit and recommends drastic remedies such as the end of 100% coverage in the event of cancer remission or a bonus-penalty system for the prevention of absenteeism in companies.