New budget cut on ecology. Already cut by two billion euros from its budget in February, the Ministry of Ecological Transition risks losing at least an additional billion while Bercy prepares a new blow to reduce the public deficit, AFP learned from a Source on Tuesday. government.
The exact amount, which is currently between 1 and 1.4 billion euros, is still under negotiation between Bercy and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, according to this Source.
In the office of Christophe Béchu, the Minister of Ecological Transition, we do not confirm the order of magnitude, but we assure that the amount will be “ very inferior » to the previous effort, of more than 2 billion. Bercy told AFP that work on savings avenues “ was still in progress ” And ” that no arbitration had been rendered ” for the moment.
2 billion savings on the energy transition in February
The state of public finances – the public deficit reached 5.5% of GDP in 2023, against a backdrop of slowed growth – led in February to an initial announcement of 10 billion euros in savings on the state budget in 2024.
The budget allocated to the various expenses of the ecological transition, elevated in September to the rank of “ top priority », had then lost more than approximately 2 billion euros, out of the 7 billion increase initially obtained for 2024.
Finance and ecology: are they compatible?
By announcing that the deficit would still be 5.1% this year, instead of the 4.4% hoped for, Bercy announced at the beginning of April a new effort of ten billion euros. Five billion will be taken from the seven billion in precautionary reserves of the ministries, detailed the Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave in mid-April.
Furthermore, 2.5 billion are expected from the efforts of local authorities and the rest must come in particular from the results of the work of four deputies on the “ taxation of annuities », targeting in particular energy companies and share buybacks, the minister indicated.
Associations and big bosses denounce budget cuts
The Notre Affaire à Tous association and the Lyon 3 University appealed to the Council of State to contest the first cuts made in February, claiming that they would have “ should have been the subject of a parliamentary debate “.
Notre Affaire à Tous denounces in particular that the protection of the environment and the ecological transition constitute “ the mission most quantitatively affected by credit cancellations “. “ Among the most affected programs, the MaPrimeRénov’ program is targeted by the government to the tune of approximately 1 billion euros », criticized the association.
This new budget cut comes as big French bosses are calling this Tuesday to “ not to deviate » of the ecological transition. The latter ask France and Europe to reaffirm “ a political will which indisputably supports » this approach, in a column published Tuesday by Le Figaro.
A few weeks before the European elections, Christel Heydemann, general director of the telecoms operator Orange, Catherine MacGregor, general director of the energy company Engie, Benoît Bazin, general director of the construction materials giant Saint-Gobain and Thomas Buberl, director general of the insurer AXA, took up their pen to urge Europe to remain the “ spearheading decarbonization “.
The fear of a series of headwinds
They fear that this ambition, which held during the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will be called into question, and with it the acceleration of the reduction of greenhouse gases, by a series headwinds, including “geopolitical instability, public deficits, inflation and purchasing power”.
Recovery plan: funds monopolized by private companies, to the detriment of the ecological transition
Highlighting the efforts made by their companies to “ make the transition a reality ” And ” bring consistency » their business models with this imperative, they insist on the need “ constancy, anticipation and vision for the future » from the political authorities.
They thus deplore the “ examples of interrupted public planning ”, such as the electric vehicle leasing plan “ stopped due to lack of anticipation of demand » or even the “ recalibration » of the support system for energy renovation work on MaPrimeRénov’ housing and the energy performance diagnosis, in particular.
European elections in sight
So that this “ decisive decade » on the path to the 2015 Paris climate agreement « is not a lost decade, we must not deviate from the course that we have collectively set for ourselves », Declare these CAC 40 leaders.
“ We need, at national and European levels, a political will which unquestionably supports the transition “, which ” must be a priority for public action because it constitutes a response to our economic and societal challenges », conclude the authors of this text, pleading for the European elections of June 9 to be “ the opportunity to reaffirm massive support for this vital issue, reconciling social progress and environmental impact “.
(With AFP)
