Budget 2026, Duplomb law, reform of public broadcasting... What are the sensitive issues for François Bayrou and his government this fall?

It's already the end of François Bayrou's vacation. After a studious summer , the Prime Minister is facing a perilous return to work. He will hold a press conference on Monday, August 25, the prologue to a perilous political return for the government and its proposed budget of €43.8 billion in savings, against a backdrop of calls to block the country on September 10, supported by the left. At the same time, several sensitive projects are returning to Parliament, such as the energy program, the reform of public broadcasting, and the introduction of proportional representation. Franceinfo details the issues at stake.

The 2026 budget, François Bayrou's major challenge

This is the most difficult task facing the government: the adoption of the 2026 budget. After unveiling the broad outlines of his project and setting a target of 44 billion in savings, François Bayrou must officially present his budget to the Council of Ministers on October 1. The texts will be examined by the deputies from October 14 for the State budget, and from the 21st for the Social Security budget, according to the timetable set by the Conference of Presidents .

Some options have already sparked a backlash, such as the proposal to eliminate two public holidays or the possibility of a blank year. Without a majority in the National Assembly and threatened with censure by the National Rally (RN) and the left, François Bayrou could be overthrown, like his predecessor Michel Barnier, in December 2024. To increase his chances of survival, the centrist will once again attempt to find compromises with parliamentary groups. He is also banking on the weight of public opinion, despite his considerable unpopularity. On August 5, he launched a series of educational videos to convince the French of the urgent need to reduce the state's debt.

Even before the text is passed in the hemicycle, discontent could first be heard in the streets, with a call for mobilization against the budget on September 10, launched by Internet users, "yellow vests" and supported by unions. Force Ouvrière, for its part, has issued a strike notice from September 1 to November 30.

Energy programming, an electrical file

The proposed energy and climate programming law for the years 2025 to 2035, led by LR Senator Daniel Grémillet, will return to the Assembly at the end of September, after being adopted in the Senate on July 8. The debates promise to be tense, following a chaotic first reading at the Palais-Bourbon. The text was rejected by Macronists and the left, after an attempt by the RN and the right to impose a moratorium on renewable energies, to implement regulated gas prices, and to restart the Fessenheim nuclear power plant.

Aware of this delicate task, François Bayrou decided on August 5 to postpone the publication of the decree on the multi-year energy program so that " the necessary dialogue and consultations can be conducted" with the parties and parliamentary groups. This decree, which defines the priorities for public action in energy management, is eagerly awaited by professionals in the sector. But the National Rally (RN) has threatened to file a motion of censure if the government publishes it before the end of the parliamentary examination of the Grémillet bill.

The Duplomb agricultural law, the subject of a new debate?

On August 7, the Constitutional Council partially censored Duplomb's proposed agricultural law, rejecting the reauthorization , by way of exception, of a highly controversial insecticide, acetamiprid. Emmanuel Macron promulgated this version of the text on August 12. Defenders of the pesticide have not said their last word: agricultural unions, including the powerful FNSEA, are demanding a new text to allow the use of acetamiprid, which they believe is essential for the survival of certain French sectors, such as sugar beet. An option that Senator Laurent Duplomb, who initiated the law, does not rule out .

For their part, Green MPs have already announced the submission of a proposal to repeal the entire law. With the petition calling for the text to be abandoned having collected more than 2 million signatures , the conference of presidents of the two chambers may also decide to organize a debate, without a vote, in Parliament. It is due to meet at the start of the school year to discuss the matter. The government has already expressed its readiness to participate.

Public broadcasting reform, Rachida Dati's obsession

Another controversial reform project, the proposed law on public broadcasting, aims to create a holding company uniting Radio France, France Télévisions (which includes the franceinfo.fr website), and the National Audiovisual Institute (INA). The bill, strongly defended by Culture Minister Rachida Dati, was adopted in second reading by senators just before the summer break thanks to a "blocked vote."

The text must now return to the Assembly at an unspecified date. At the end of June, the debates in the chamber were cut short after a preliminary motion of rejection was adopted. "This passage by force in the Senate will be a Pyrrhic victory (...) We will be mobilized from the start of the school year to block it," promised MP Aurélien Saintoul (LFI), on X. The bill benefits, in the lower chamber, from the support of the majority of the common base and the relative benevolence of the RN, "rather in favor of abstaining," according to its vice-president Sébastien Chenu.