French politics, never known for its tranquility, has once again found itself at a boiling point this October. In a dramatic move aimed at staving off the collapse of his fragile minority government, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on October 14, 2025, that he would suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform until after the next presidential election in 2027. The decision, delivered in a tense policy speech at the National Assembly, marks a significant reversal for Macron’s administration and underscores the deep divisions rocking the country’s political establishment.
The pension reform, first rammed through parliament in 2023 without a vote—thanks to the government’s use of the constitutional Article 49.3—had been a signature initiative for Macron. The law, which gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, ignited months of strikes, street protests, and fierce parliamentary debate. Many French people saw the government’s bypassing of a parliamentary vote as, in the words of Lecornu himself, “a wound on democracy,” according to BBC reporting.
Lecornu’s announcement comes at a moment of acute political peril. On October 16, he faces two no-confidence motions in parliament—one from the hard-left France Unbowed and another from the far-right National Rally. While neither party holds enough seats to topple the government alone, the threat is real: if the Socialist Party and other left-leaning groups join forces with them, Lecornu’s government could fall. The Socialists, who are not part of the governing coalition, have made their stance clear. As Socialist MP Laurent Baumel told French TV, “If he does not explicitly say the words ‘immediate and complete suspension of the pension reform,’ it will be censure. He is holding his destiny in his own hands.”
In the end, Lecornu’s statement to parliament was unambiguous: “This autumn I will propose to parliament that we suspend the 2023 pension reform until the [2027] presidential election.” The declaration was met with applause from left-wing MPs, and Socialist leader Boris Vallaud hailed it as a “first step” and a “victory.” Vallaud added, “The French were waiting for your statement and we were waiting for a sign that you’d heard them... The suspension of the pension reform: here it is at last.”
But not everyone was convinced. The Greens announced they would still vote to topple Lecornu’s government, while Mathilde Panot of France Unbowed declared, “Nobody believes in you any longer.” On the other side of the spectrum, Sébastien Chenu of National Rally was equally dismissive: “We are not fooled by anything and cannot be bought. Hello and goodbye, Mr Prime Minister.”
The financial implications of the suspension are far from trivial. Lecornu told lawmakers that pausing the reform would cost 400 million euros (about $463 million) in 2026 and a staggering 1.8 billion euros in 2027. The measure will benefit some 3.5 million French citizens, but Lecornu was quick to stress that “it will therefore have to be financially compensated, including through cost-saving measures. It cannot be carried out at the expense of an increased deficit.” France’s deficit already stands at 5.8% of GDP—well above the EU’s target of 3%—and public debt reached 3.346 trillion euros (114% of GDP) at the end of the first quarter of 2025, according to Associated Press figures.
Fiscal discipline is now the government’s mantra. Earlier on Tuesday, Lecornu met with his cabinet to discuss the 2026 budget, which must be approved by year’s end. His main objective: bring the deficit below 5% of GDP to “safeguard France’s sovereignty.” Among the measures under consideration are cutting red tape, fighting social and tax fraud, targeted tax cuts for small and medium-sized businesses, and exceptional contributions from large corporations.
One of the most significant shifts in Lecornu’s approach is his vow to end reliance on Article 49.3, the constitutional mechanism that allows the government to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote. Lecornu’s predecessor, François Bayrou, used it to push through last year’s budget, but the practice has drawn fierce criticism from across the political spectrum. “The government will make proposals, we will debate, and you will vote,” Lecornu declared in parliament, promising, as reported by BBC, that parliament would have “the final word.”
Lecornu’s reappointment as prime minister just last week, only four days after he had resigned amid political infighting, is widely seen as Macron’s last shot at reinvigorating his second term. The president’s centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly, and after dissolving the chamber last year in a risky snap election, Macron has presided over a hung parliament and persistent political deadlock. The resulting instability has seen two short-lived prime ministers toppled within months, as budgets repeatedly failed to secure enough support.
The stakes could hardly be higher. Not only is France grappling with a rising poverty rate and a mounting debt crisis that has alarmed both markets and EU partners, but the government’s authority is being tested from all sides. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is pushing for new parliamentary elections, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed wants Macron to step down altogether. The National Assembly itself has splintered into three distinct factions since the 2024 vote, making consensus elusive and every vote a potential crisis.
Into this maelstrom stepped Nobel Prize-winning economist Philippe Aghion, who told broadcaster France 2 that suspending the pension reform was the prudent course. “I think we need to stop the clock now until the presidential election,” Aghion said, arguing it was “the way to calm things down” and “it doesn’t cost very much to pause it.” His endorsement, coming just a day after being awarded the 2025 Nobel economics prize, added intellectual heft to the suspension’s supporters.
Yet, the road ahead remains treacherous. Lecornu has proposed a working group to study pensions, with a mandate to reach a decision by the 2027 presidential election. Meanwhile, the prime minister must shepherd a budget through parliament that satisfies both the EU’s fiscal expectations and the demands of a restive electorate. Any misstep could bring down his government—again—and plunge France into even deeper political chaos.
As the National Assembly braces for Thursday’s no-confidence votes, all eyes are on Lecornu and Macron. Their ability to navigate this political minefield may well determine not just their own futures, but the trajectory of France itself in the years leading up to 2027. The next few days will reveal whether the suspension of pension reform is enough to restore a measure of stability, or if France is headed for yet another round of upheaval.