The deputies came to the conclusion, during the night of Friday to Saturday November 9, of the first part of the state budget. The government's initial text has been largely reworked, with new taxes galore, which the Assembly must still validate by a general vote on Tuesday.
Shortly before 3 a.m., the National Assembly finally completed the examination of the “revenue” part of the finance bill, and the more than 3,000 amendments tabled by the deputies. A project started on October 21, then interrupted during discussions on the Social Security budget, and resumed on Wednesday in the hemicycle, where the government's copy was profoundly transformed.
Ultimately, the State deficit forecast for 2025 is reduced from 142 to 85 billion euros, at the cost in particular of a “tax increase of 35 billion”calculated Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin at the end of the session, judging this improvement “largely artificial” because also resulting for 23 billion from the elimination of the envelope intended for the European Union.
“We haven’t deleted anything at all, we are still in the EU”agreed the centrist deputy Charles de Courson, general budget rapporteur who for his part estimated the new revenues at “12 billion in broad counting”, the rest being “probably Euro-incompatible, or unconstitutional”.
Figure logically contested by the LFI president of the Finance Committee, Eric Coquerel, who retains the “satisfaction” to have “found tens of billions of new recipes” and so “lowered the deficit to less than 3%” of GDP. In fact, the left has rolled out a good part of its program for the last legislative elections. With the help of new taxes on “super profits”, “super dividends”, share buybacks, “large digital companies”, multinationals and even the assets of billionaires.
If the text was rejected on Tuesday, it would then be sent to the Senate in its initial version, without deputies being able to examine the “expenditure” section of the state budget. On the other hand, if the deputies approve this first part, they will immediately move on to the discussion of the credits allocated to the various missions of the State, with the obligation to reach a conclusion before the deadline of November 21.
