The government drew a new 49.3 on Monday in the National Assembly for the final reading of the 2023-2027 public finance programming law, without Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, on an official trip to Ireland.
In an almost empty chamber, the Minister of Relations with Parliament Franck Riester took charge of reading a message from the Prime Minister committing the government to responsibility.
Against the austerity cure, LFI announced in return the tabling of a motion of censure, the very probable rejection of which in a few days will be worth the definitive adoption of this law, which promises a public deficit reduced to 2.7% of GDP in 2027, under the European objective of 3%.
This is the 17th appeal of the constitutional weapon of 49.3 of the government of Elisabeth Borne.
The absence of the Prime Minister to hold the government accountable before the Assembly is not a first. Under Michel Rocard (Prime Minister from 1988 to 1991), several 49.3s were triggered by the Minister of Relations with Parliament or the N.2 of the Lionel Jospin government, recalls a parliamentary source.
This text ensures our credibility vis-à-vis our European partners and will make it possible to unlock 18 billion euros from the European recovery plan, said Elisabeth Borne in the letter read by Franck Riester, an argument often contested by the opposition.
Sunday on France Inter, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire stressed that in 2024 we will need to find at least 12 billion euros in additional savings, thanks to a review of public spending.
In passing, he dissociated himself from two recent measures negotiated by the government with the opposition: the expansion of the fuel allowance for more workers (proposal from the independent Liot group) and an exceptional allowance supplementing the 2023 Christmas bonus for single-parent families (PS proposal).
I was against these proposals, everyone knows that, but was part of government life (…) At a certain point, we have to say stop, we no longer have the means, he insisted.
The Senate, with a right and center majority, for its part demanded a return below 3% two years earlier, in 2025, and a public deficit reduced to 1.7% in 2027, but was unsuccessful.
Recourse to 49.3 on the programming law could lead to a legal standoff with oppositions.
Excluding State and Social Security budgets, for which the use of 49.3 is unlimited, the government only has the right to use this constitutional weapon on a single text per parliamentary session.
But the executive, supported by legal advice, assures that it is not using this cartridge for this public finance programming law, since it had already been the subject of a first 49.3 at the end of September, during an extraordinary session.
The opposition could try to challenge this legal argument if the government uses 49.3 again during this ordinary session, for example on the immigration bill.