The circular is intended to prepare the budget conferences, which will start next week, to launch the budget development process. “Balancing this priority with the necessary control of public finances requires choices,” the text continues. As a result, “ministerial budgets outside the ‘Defense’ mission must generally decrease in value compared to the initial budget law (LFI) for 2026” and “the control of staff levels set out in the LFI for 2026 must be strengthened.”
The circular also states that “any new measure that impacts the trajectory must be offset by equivalent savings measures in expenditures.”
“Control” of “staff”
Regarding staff, “given demographic changes that may justify a measured renewal of natural departures, you are asked to propose control of your staff,” the circular states. The government must make decisions in the coming months on the credit ceilings for each ministry for the upcoming year, with the aim of publishing them by mid-July. In the 2026 budget already, Defense credits have increased by 6.5 billion, while other “missions” see their budgets stagnate or decrease, excluding sovereign ministries.
