(MENAFN) French lawmakers on Friday dismissed the government’s draft social security budget bill during committee review, despite efforts to remove contentious provisions and adopt a measure suspending the country’s pension reform. The bill will now head to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Earlier in the week, lawmakers had already rejected the revenue section of the bill, and on Friday, they also voted down the spending portion, effectively dismissing the entire draft budget. In a separate vote, parliament approved suspending the 2023 pension reform by 22-12.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had proposed delaying the reform until the next presidential election, pledging no increase in the retirement age before January 2028, addressing key opposition demands and avoiding potential censure from the Socialist Party. The 2023 pension reform, introduced under former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, aimed to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, sparking widespread strikes.

In addition, the National Assembly rejected an article establishing the Zucman tax, which would have imposed a 2% minimum levy on fortunes exceeding €100 million ($116.25 million). Socialist lawmakers have been pressing Lecornu’s government to implement the tax and have threatened a possible no-confidence motion.

Following the rejection, Socialist parliamentary leader Boris Vallaud criticized the government’s rigidity, telling Lecornu, "By your intransigence, I fear you are taking the wrong path. I tell you, Mr. Prime Minister, there has not been, since we have been in this chamber, the slightest compromise."

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