Adds end of debates
PARIS (awp/afp) – The National Assembly on Saturday voted to abolish the audiovisual license fee and narrowly rejected a tax on the “superprofits” of large groups, after difficulties in the majority and a surge of tension, pending the resumption of the debate on purchasing power on Monday.
After four days of heated debate on the bill in favor of purchasing power, the deputies have been grappling since Friday, via the rectified draft budget, with the second part of the measures intended to counter the effects of inflation.
At the end of the evening on Saturday, the LREM deputies were put in a minority: against what they wanted, the Assembly decided for 2022 to allocate 120 million to the departments which pay the RSA, to fully compensate for the increase 4% of this benefit programmed by the State.
An amendment to this effect was adopted by the conjunction of the favorable votes of the left, the RN, the LRs but also, and this is the first time, the deputies of the Horizons group allied with the majority.
The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire scolded those “who only have the word restoration of public finances in their mouths” and who “engage in such public expenditure”.
“Little Psychodrama”
Reminders of the rules and suspensions of the session followed, while the left rejoiced that “the presidential minority no longer decides everything alone”.
After this “little psychodrama”, according to the communist Nicolas Sansu, Mr. Le Maire calmed things down by accepting a “work” with all the political groups on future financial support for communities in difficulty.
“The minister has endorsed that passing by force is not possible” in this Assembly where the macronists have only a relative majority, noted the chairman of the Finance Committee Eric Coquerel (LFI).
While some 375 amendments were still on the menu, completing the examination of this rectified budget overnight seemed out of reach. Resumption finally Monday of this first reading around 5:00 p.m.
A next point in the text has been cleared: Bruno Le Maire said he was in favor of increasing the discount on the liter of fuel from 18 to 30 cents, in a compromise with the deputies Les Républicains who called for going “further”.
“The discount could increase from 18 to 30 euro cents in September and October, then increase to 10 in November and 10 in December,” he explained. And with the discount of 20 cents at the pump announced by TotalEnergies, “you would have in certain service stations in France a fuel at 1.5 euros”, threshold defended by LR.
Exit the tax on “superprofits”
In the morning, the abolition of the fee which finances public broadcasting, a promise by Emmanuel Macron, had passed without incident, although it raised many questions about the independence of the media concerned.
LR and RN voted for, the left alliance Nupes unanimously against.
Majority and LR amendments were adopted to affect “a fraction” of VAT, for an amount of around 3.7 billion euros, in order to address concerns about the financing of this sector.
The Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal expressed his attachment to “a strong public audiovisual”, describing as “obsolete” this fee based on the possession of a television, at the time of tablets and other smartphones. The fee is set at 138 euros per year in mainland France.
Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak argued that “it is not the fee that guarantees independence” but Arcom (ex-CSA), which appoints the leaders of public broadcasting.
The left has accused the government of taking inspiration from the extreme right to ultimately dismantle public broadcasting. “Zemmour and Mrs. Le Pen had asked for it, Mr. Macron will have done it”, launched Stéphane Peu (PCF).
The president of the RN group, however, considered that “the government’s project has nothing to do with what we want to do”, namely a “privatization” in good and due form.
The presidential camp must frequently seek support piecemeal in the face of the sometimes combined assaults of the opposition.
The support of LR, hoped to have this draft budget adopted without having to count on the votes of the RN, materialized by the rejection of the tax on “superprofits” with 18 votes.
Four majority deputies abstained, including Sacha Houlié and Caroline Janvier, who had defended the principle of this tax. One of their colleague from Horizons voted for it.
The Minister of the Economy has meanwhile criticized the principle of a tax – “ideological emphasis”, according to him.
The left alliance Nupes deplored this refusal, citing the cases of Spain, Great Britain or Italy which adopted exceptional taxes on “superprofits”.
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