In the shadow of the flammable debates on immigration, it was in a very sparse hemicycle that the deputies met for the last time of the year. By calling for censorship, the Insoumis Eric Coquerel, president of the Finance Committee, contested the budget as much as the law on immigration, which he considers “ignominious” and “nauseating”.
Only 116 MPs contributed their votes to the left-wing motion, far from the 289 needed to bring down the government. Its rejection leads to the adoption of the 2024 finance bill (PLF).
Ten uses of 49.3
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the creation of more than 2,000 police and gendarmerie positions, an increase in resources for Justice and Defense, upgrades for teachers and a “green budget” with an additional 7 billion euros in in favor of the ecological transition.
Like last year, the government used the constitutional weapon of 49.3 ten times to pass this state budget and that of Social Security adopted on December 4 without a vote.
49.3, motion of censure, 49.3… The now well-regulated ballet has created wear and tear in the hemicycle, more than last year when the deputies discovered the new configuration of the National Assembly without an absolute majority. The opposition denounces “contempt for Parliament” and “denial of democracy”.
The government is on a crest between its spending and the desire to reduce the public deficit to 4.4% of GDP in 2024. Bercy has promised to seek 12 billion additional savings per year from 2025, a “difficult” mission, recognize Macronist deputies.
The left is already pointing to “austerity”. She criticizes the government for not doing enough on ecology and housing and for refusing to increase taxes on the richest or large businesses.
“A little stiff”
In the majority, the MoDem called in vain for “fiscal justice” measures such as a tax on share buybacks of large companies, after the one it wanted on “superdividends” last year, but that the government had ruled out.
Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, “is a little rigid on new revenues”, squeaks a centrist MP. “Share buybacks don’t bring in much, but they’re politically important.”
The right, on the other hand, considers that structural economies are missing. LR notably demanded a cut of 6 billion euros in the amount of unemployment compensation.
Faced with the high cost of living, Bruno Le Maire stressed on Thursday that “the inflationary crisis is behind us”, even if “it remains very hard for many of our compatriots”. In the home stretch, the debates focused in particular on housing shortages, a “social bomb”, according to many elected officials.
“The 2025 budget will be even more demanding”
Between two 49.3, the government allowed a Senate measure to pass to reduce more drastically than expected the tax loophole enjoyed by furnished tourist rentals like Airbnb. A “material error”, we explain to the government, which assures that the measure will not apply in 2024, despite the voices on the left and in the majority who demand it.
Another controversy, the government supported, against the advice of the opposition, advantageous tax measures for international sports federations, the main goal of which is to try to attract the powerful Fifa, the major body of world football, to France. A “mini tax haven”, denounced Lisette Pollet (RN).
The executive has also taken over a tax voted in the Senate on musical “streaming” platforms, in order to finance the National Music Center (CNM). Enough to bristle at Spotify France, which announced in retaliation that it would stop supporting the Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges, from 2024.
To improve the construction of the budget, the government intends to bring forward budgetary discussions next year, including with the oppositions. “The 2025 budget will be even more demanding. We must build it very early,” explained Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave.