Public Accounts Minister Thomas Cazenave considered on Wednesday that the new effort of 10 billion euros to be made on public finances this year did not require an amending finance law, despite the opposition’s request.
The minister presented to the Finance Committee of the National Assembly the trajectory of France’s Stability Program between now and 2027.
The state of public finances – the public deficit reached 5.5% of GDP in 2023, against a backdrop of slowed growth – led to the announcement in February of 10 billion euros in savings on the state budget in 2024. A decree detailing the cuts was published immediately.
Ten to twelve billion legally constitute the maximum share of savings that the government can make during the financial year without going through a amending finance bill (PLFR).
However, last week, by announcing that the deficit would still be 5.1% this year, Bercy announced a new effort of ten billion euros this year.
On Wednesday, several opposition parliamentarians, including the president of the Commission Éric Coquerel (LFI), asked the minister why this new effort was not the subject of a PLFR.
Mr. Cazenave detailed the composition of the ten new billions: in particular, five will be taken from the seven billion in precautionary reserves of the ministries.
According to him, it is a simple “management of expenditure” which will therefore “allow the objectives to be met without the need” for a PLFR.
“Politically, this is not tenable,” protested Mr. Coquerel.
Furthermore, 2.5 billion are expected from local authorities’ efforts to limit the increase in their spending to 0.5 points below inflation this year, which does not require a PLFR.
Finally, the rest of the ten billion will come in particular from the result of the ongoing work of four deputies on the “taxation of annuities”, targeting in particular energy companies and share buybacks.
On this point, the minister conceded that there “would be a subject” on “which vehicle to implement”, “depending on the proposals that will be made by parliamentarians”.
It has appeared in recent weeks that the Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire – traveling to Washington on Wednesday – wanted a PLFR in the coming weeks, but that the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron did not want it, judging this whole debate on the anxiety-provoking deficit, particularly before the European elections in June.