The Assemblée Nationale, during debates over the social security budget bill, in Paris, on December 16, 2025. DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP
For Christmas, the political menu will be the same as in December 2024: a bit meager, with no budget and just a bare-bones "special law" as a substitute. After a joint parliamentary committee, tasked with reaching a compromise on a budget bill for 2026, failed in its mission on Friday, December 19, the government acknowledged that it would be impossible to have a budget bill adopted and signed into law before year's end. It is therefore preparing to present an alternative to lawmakers: a so-called "special law," which aims to prevent the state's complete financial shutdown.
The process is expected to be swift. France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, has been asked to review the bill, and will have to issue its legal opinion at record speed. The bill could then be examined by the cabinet over the weekend, then by MPs on Monday and senators on Tuesday, before being signed into law immediately afterwards.
Time is of the essence. At the end of 2024, then-outgoing prime minister Michel Barnier's caretaker government presented a draft special law to a cabinet meeting on December 11. The bill was only minimally amended by the Assemblée Nationale, unanimously adopted by both MPs and senators in less than a week and signed into law by President Emmanuel Macron on December 20. This year, the process is starting about 10 days later, but the final deadline remains the same: Everything must be done to ensure that the state does not shut down at midnight on December 31.
