The austerity budget presented this Thursday, October 10 by the government of Michel Barnier provokes the anger of the oppositions. The socialist Philippe Brun denounces “clear cuts in the most important budgets of our public services”.
It was expected, here it is presented. The government presented this Thursday, October 10, its Finance Bill for the year (PLF) for the year 2025, arousing the ire of oppositions, from La France insoumise to the National Rally. Because this budget, which will be carried by Michel Barnier and his ministers in Parliament, provides for numerous job cuts and several tax increases.
In total, the executive plans to find “60 billion euros” to support public finances stifled by galloping debt.
“A social war budget”
The strongest reactions are regarding the National Education budget, where the government plans to cut 4,000 teaching positions. “A calamity,” denounces Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “After having spread poverty, here is the organization of ignorance,” says the former candidate of La France insoumise in the presidential election.
The rebellious deputy from the North, Aurélien le Coq, believes that the budget proposed by Michel Barnier is a “social war budget”. “A butchery that will continue to make the French spit blood,” he denounces.
Éric Coquerel, president of the finance committee, speaks of a “super austerity budget”, which is “gloomy for the French, particularly the middle classes and the disadvantaged classes”.
The socialist deputy Philippe Brun, vice-president of the same committee, also denounced a project of “austerity with clear cuts in the most important budgets of our public services”.
“For us, this is unacceptable”
On the far right side, the RN deputy, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, expressed his opposition to the draft budget on LCI. “The effort is very poorly distributed”, according to him, “since we identify at least 7 billion euros for the middle and working classes and only 2 billion euros for the most privileged. And that, for us, is ‘is unacceptable.’
The Somme MP believes he “does not see a break with the mismanagement of the last 50 years”.
From there to vote on a motion of censure in the National Assembly? Since the arrival of Michel Barnier in Matignon, the National Rally has played the role of arbiter and, due to the composition of the Palais Bourbon, has the power of life and death over a government which does not have an absolute majority .
Before the presentation of the budget, Sébastien Chenu announced that the RN “will not vote” for the PLF. Will the opposition be total? Or will it only be a facade? Because non-participation in the vote or an abstention of RN deputies does not mean a rejection of the budget: the NFP has 192 deputies, the Renaissance-LR coalition 211.
In addition, Michel Barnier does not exclude the use of 49.3 in the National Assembly to pass the budget without a vote.
On the side of the presidential camp, the group of MoDem deputies, partner of the government, said in a press release that it was ready to engage in the budgetary debate “with a constructive spirit”. But he asked that these “cyclical measures” be “accompanied” by “more structural reforms”.
The deputy (Liot) of Guadeloupe Olivier Serva considers a reduction in the budget for the overseas territories “unthinkable”. “The overseas budget is reduced by 10%, it is unthinkable for our group”, “it is scandalous in a situation where Martinique is in fire and blood”, he reacted.
Ariel Guez and Matthieu Heyman
