Politics. 2026 Budget: The government is planning a €29 billion increase in public spending.

An increase that isn't really one: public spending will amount to €1,722 billion in 2026, or €29 billion more than in 2025, according to a government estimate. However, this level corresponds to "an effort to moderate spending of around €30 billion," because public spending "is increasing naturally, notably due to the dynamics of health spending and the increase in the debt burden."

Public spending (which includes spending by the State, Social Security and local authorities) would have reached around 1,752 billion euros "without any effort on our part and by integrating the new defense effort" announced by Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, specifies the government document, entitled "Expenditure ceilings of the draft finance bill for 2026".

This document, which sets out the budgetary envelope that will be allocated to each of the State's "missions" next year, envisages in particular an increase in expenditure compared to 2025 of 6.7 billion euros for the defense mission , 400 million for "security" and 200 million for justice and school education. On the other hand, it expects a decrease of 1.7 billion euros for the "solidarity, integration and equal opportunities" mission and 1.3 billion euros for the "work, employment and administration of social ministries" mission.

The government is also considering a €900 million cut for the "territorial cohesion" mission, a €700 million cut for "official development assistance," and a €200 million cut for "agriculture, food, forestry, and rural affairs." The "ecology, sustainable development, and mobility" mission, whose scope will change in 2026, will be increased by €600 million. For the other missions, the planned budgets are close to stable.

The government also intends to involve local authorities "in the effort to redress public accounts to the tune of 5.3 billion euros." "This budget (...) is, fundamentally, a budget to slow down our spending," reacted Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin on France 2 on Wednesday. "Public spending (...) should have increased by 60 billion, but what we are proposing to the French is that it will only increase by 30 billion," she explained.

Prime Minister François Bayrou , alongside several ministers, presented on Tuesday a "savings" plan for 2026 of 43.8 billion , an amount which includes spending cuts but also forecasts for revenue increases, notably by freezing the income tax scale or via a "contribution from the most fortunate".