Antoine Armand estimated this Monday that he had drawn up the budget in such a way as to “strengthen the financial and national sovereignty of the country”.
The French budget for 2025, which must be presented on Thursday, “will fully comply with the new European budgetary rules”Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Monday, a few hours before a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg. “We made the budget to strengthen the financial and national sovereignty of the country”declared the minister during a press briefing. Respect European rules, which are “commitments that we ourselves have formulated and inspired, is a question of international credibility and sovereignty”he assured.
After an expected slippage to 6.1% this year, the government intends to reduce the public deficit to 5% from 2025 to return in 2029 below the limit of 3% tolerated by Brussels – 2.8% according to documents consulted -, two years later than promised by the previous government. The debt, at 3,228.4 billion euros at the end of June (112% of GDP), has swelled by a thousand billion since 2017, when Emmanuel Macron became president. It will approach 115% next year, almost double the maximum set at 60% by Brussels, before gradually decreasing.
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“Strengthening European industrial policy”
“Our objective is to bring our deficit below 3% by 2029” after a first step “strong and credible” has «5% in 2025»reaffirmed the minister who is due to arrive in Luxembourg early this afternoon. Within the new French government, Antoine Armand replaced Bruno Le Maire who had served as Minister of Economy and Finance for seven years. He stressed Monday that Prime Minister Michel Barnier had entrusted him “an extremely clear mandate: defend French and European interests in the world” et “continue to be a force of suggestion in Europe”.
In addition to respecting European budgetary commitments, Antoine Armand affirmed the “determination of France” to move forward on two other major subjects for the “sovereignty” of the country. On the one hand, he intends to get involved “personally” on the subject of “strengthening competitiveness” of the European Union. “The EU is falling behind China and the United States in strategic areas”he warned, referring to the reports of two former Italian Presidents of the Council Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, published this year.
“We must not accept fate”declared Antoine Armand, emphasizing that it was necessary to work on “deepen the single market and strengthen European industrial policy”. On the other hand, he pleaded for “the deepening of the single European market” and in particular “Capital Markets Union”and “fundamental project in view of the financing wall that stands before us” particularly for the digital and climate transition.
