French Senate adopts amended military programming law, removes government's spending increase
The French Senate on June 9 adopted a heavily amended version of the update to the 2024-30 Military Programming Law by 297 votes to 33, stripping out the government's proposed 36-billion-euro spending increase. The upper house instead approved an amendment adding 14 billion euros, which the government had rejected as unsustainable. The text now heads to a joint parliamentary committee, with the National Assembly holding the final say if no compromise is reached.
The French Senate on June 9 adopted a heavily amended version of the update to the 2024-30 Military Programming Law by 297 votes to 33, stripping out the government's proposed 36-billion-euro spending increase and replacing it with a smaller addition.
The original 2024-30 Military Programming Law, promulgated less than three years ago, allocated 400 billion euros in budget credits plus 13.3 billion euros in exceptional revenue. The government's update, unveiled April 8, aimed to add 36 billion euros to the initial financial trajectory. The Senate foreign affairs and defense committee, chaired by Cédric Perrin, judged the 36 billion euros insufficient and voted an amendment to add 14 billion euros to the update.
Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin rejected any additional increase, stating: "L'effort doit être soutenable, c'est la condition de son efficacité." The 14-billion-euro amendment was rejected during debate on Article 2 of the bill, with support from communist, socialist and some centrist senators. Senator Perrin then had Article 2 annulled, canceling the government's 36-billion-euro increase.
The Senate version includes several major capability decisions. It approved the launch of studies this year for the successor to the Leclerc tank. It approved the acquisition of 30 additional Rafale F4 aircraft — 20 for the Air and Space Force and 10 for the Navy — as well as the order of three additional FDI frigates, to be in service by 2035. The Senate adopted creation of a "catalogue national des drones et des dispositifs de lutte antidrone de confiance" to facilitate acquisition of drones and anti-drone systems. It also approved opening the operational reserve to foreigners for specialist reservist roles.
On personnel, the Senate version sets the Ministry of Armed Forces workforce at 275,000 full-time equivalents by 2030, versus the government's figure of 201,000.
The text will now be examined by a joint parliamentary committee. If no compromise is reached, the National Assembly holds the final say.