Élisabeth Borne once again used the constitutional weapon of 49.3 late Tuesday, to pass without a vote in the National Assembly the “expenses” section and the entire finance bill for 2024 at first reading. Greeted shortly before midnight by a mixture of boos and applause in the hemicycle, the sixteenth use by the Prime Minister of this criticized tool earned her the instant submission in return of a new motion of censure from the Insoumis.
“The government is once again flouting democracy”
Its probable rejection during the week will this time mean adoption at first reading of the entire 2024 draft budget, before its transmission to the Senate, where it is expected from November 23 in the hemicycle. “We cannot deprive France of a budget” and “we can do so all the less since we know very well that there is no alternative majority capable of agreeing around a budget”, justified Élisabeth Borne during of his short statement to the deputies.
In a now well-established sequence, LFI’s response only took a few minutes. “With the back of its hand, the government is once again flouting democracy,” reacted the leader of the Insoumis deputies, Mathilde Panot, on X. The text of their motion of censure, consulted by AFP, denounces the “austerity cure” of the budget “while our public services are strangled by inflation and on the verge of collapse”, as well as “the authoritarian slope descended by the government” with its 49.3.
“It’s not a good job.”
The government waited a few days before dropping the ax, giving the Assembly time to examine certain sovereign credits or part of the always sensitive overseas budget. Some consensual amendments were thus able to be approved. Among them, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin promised 146 million euros in favor of civil security, to fight in particular against forest fires.
His Education colleague Gabriel Attal supported an amendment providing 30 million euros for “anti-harassment brigades” at school. The Renaissance group should also see its proposal for a fund to fight against bedbugs, to the tune of 5 million euros, accepted. On Tuesday, the deputies were able to debate “defense” credits for a few hours, with the budget of the Ministry of the Armed Forces expected to increase by 3.3 billion euros, to reach 47.2 billion in 2024.
The Assembly adopted, against the advice of the government, an LFI amendment aimed at “significantly increasing the index remuneration of military personnel”, through reallocations of credits. “You have just reduced equipment credits for the armed forces by 220 million euros, that’s not a good job,” quipped the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu.
The opposition shows “irresponsibility”
With 49.3, the executive has the possibility of retaining or rejecting the amendments of its choice, whatever their fate in the hemicycle. Elisabeth Borne announced on Tuesday that she had accepted proposals which “will allow additional investments in Overseas Territories”, “extend the fuel allowance to 60% of French people who work” or even “strengthen the resources of the Shoah Memorial” .
But the oppositions criticize the government for not retaining any structuring parliamentary proposals. “There is no real desire to negotiate,” denounces socialist Christine Pirès Beaune. One of the most sensitive subjects, the “question of housing, was not even discussed in session”, indignant the Insoumis Éric Coquerel, president of the Finance Committee, even though it is a “bomb social”.
The presidential camp retorts that the opposition is showing “irresponsibility” with “billions of expenses”. “There is a real outbidding, with amounts proposed by the oppositions which are beyond comprehension,” lamented the general budget rapporteur Jean-René Cazeneuve (Renaissance) to AFP, judging that the government had “not no other choice than to take responsibility.
But the ballet of 49.3, which abruptly interrupts the debates, also causes frustration in the ranks of the majority, whose deputies lose speaking time and visibility. “The oppositions are furious” but “it also creates” “acrimony” and a “slightly deleterious atmosphere” in the Renaissance group, confides a Macronist executive. “The government loses political capital every time,” believes this parliamentarian.