A wide-ranging ‘anti-fraud’ bill will see several new measures introduced in France after it received support from senators.
The bill was already adopted by MPs earlier this month after initially being laid out in October 2025. Originally including 27 articles, dozens more were added by MPs and senators during debates, bringing the final tally to more than 100.
Its relatively smooth passage through the upper chamber will provide a critical boost to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who said it is “the first major anti-fraud bill for 15 years” in France.
Focusing largely on social security and tax fraud, the bill looks to bring €1.5 billion per year into state coffers.
However, the Haut Conseil des finances publiques said this is unlikely for 2026 and should only be accounted for from 2027 onwards.
Despite its adoption, the bill was criticised by MPs and senators on the left, due to the changes introduced during the debates.
Many of these changes target social welfare fraud, with left-wing politicians saying this has left the bill lopsided and focusing too much on this with not enough done to tackle wider tax fraud, particularly against companies.
Note that the measures will only be introduced once the law has been promulgated, and there is currently no date set for this.
There are reports that left-wing groups may appeal to France’s Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel) to assess the law before it can be implemented.
The council can censure certain elements of the law it deems unconstitutional or too-far removed from the bill’s original purpose.
Below, we cover key points included in the final version approved by senators and MPs.
Access to bank statements, healthcare log-in information
Officials will have greater access to information to check for discrepancies in possible cases of fraud.
This may include access to bank statements, particularly to combat the low-income top-up benefit revenu de solidarité active (RSA).
State health insurance body Assurance Maladie will also be able to use computer connections (connexion informatiques) of users logging onto its databases to check for potential fraud.
The exact scope of this is not laid out in the bill – it will be defined in later regulations – but is expected to include authorities being given the green light to track the IP address (including physical location) of people logging in to an account, as well as log-in times and information on devices connected to an individual’s account.
This will help authorities pinpoint multiple people accessing a person’s Assurance Maladie account, as well as fraudulent activity from overseas, etc.
Higher penalties for undeclared work
Companies who employ people ‘on the black’ face stricter penalties under the new ‘social flagrante delicto’ procedure.
This allows company assets of those employing people illegally to be seized as a precautionary measure after a 48-hour warning period.
More information on the penalties for employing workers illegally, both for companies and individuals through at-home help, can be found in our article here.
Changes to sick-leave
Further changes to sick-leave have been introduced.
Short-term sick-leave notes of three days or less can only be renewed once through an online appointment (téléconsultation). Future short-term sick-notes must be obtained following an in-person appointment.
There will be limited exceptions to this, including sick-notes prescribed by a person’s GP (médecin traitant).
In addition, individuals on sick-leave must inform Assurance Maladie of a change of address, previously not required.
It comes after changes to the system were introduced as part of the 2026 social security budget.
Suspension of benefits for fraudulent claimants
State employment agency France Travail will be able to suspend jobseeker benefits when there are “serious indications of fraudulent manoeuvres, [or] deliberate breach of obligations.”
Benefits can be suspended for up to three months, but households will need to be provided with the minimum resources required to live on.
A controversial element of the bill – it was only added by senators during debates and not part of initial propositions – left-wing groups managed to obtain concessions including the minimum resource requirement.
Claimants will be able to go through an appeals process if they wish to challenge.
The full measures will only be known after France’s Conseil d’Etat, France’s legal advisory and judicial branch, issues a decree with more details on the issue.
Stricter social welfare fraud penalties
MPs attempted to introduce a form of ‘automatic penalties’ for anyone caught committing social welfare fraud, but this was eventually rejected on the basis that it failed to offer individualised sentencing rights to individuals.
However, penalties for those found guilty of social welfare fraud will increase, including increasing maximum custody time for those suspected of committing fraud.
Stricter personal training controls
In a bid to tackle scams associated with the personal training fund (compte personnel de formation, CPF) schemes, several new measures are in place.
Firstly, trainers who do not possess adequate qualifications associated with the skill they are teaching will have to reimburse funds to trainees.
Secondly, those using their CPF to learn a new skill will need to take some form of exam at the end, authorised by an accrediting or official body related to the course, to prove training was official.
Trainers will again need to reimburse funds if they do not offer official examinations.
It comes as France looks to tighten the CPF, focusing the funds on providing real training for the professional environment.
Regulations for the ride-hailing sector
Harsher measures are set to be introduced for drivers who illegally control a vehicle listed on ride-share apps such as Uber or Bolt.
Around half of all vehicles or drivers registered to these systems in France are ‘flawed’, said MPs, so stricter penalties for providing false information will be introduced impacting both drivers and the apps themselves.
This should help with issues such as multiple drivers operating the same vehicle, and improve safety conditions for those using ride-share apps.
Geolocalisation of medical transport vehicles
Taxis offering medical transport services for patients – that are partially or fully covered by Assurance Maladie – will be geolocalised, tracking the exact routes taken and kilometres driven.
This will allow Assurance Maladie to track “the actual execution of billed medical transport services,” and reduce any attempt by drivers to fraudulently over-declare for journeys.
Changes to medical transport billing were a major point of contention for French taxi drivers during protests in May 2025, and may see more disruption in the sector.
