It is a vote which makes the future of the Territorial Continuity Grant (DCT) a little more secure. This Saturday, as part of the examination of the Finance Bill (PLF) for 2025, the upper house of Parliament adopted the amendment from the senator of Haute-Corse, Paulu-Santu Parigi, aiming to request an extension of 50 million euros.
Fixed at 187 million euros per year, the amount of the DCT envelope has not been reviewed since 2009. However, this lack of reindexation in the face of inflation poses significant concerns for public service links. between Corsica and the continent. Senator Parigi had in fact highlighted that the “ stagnation of the DCT envelope generates an annual deficit which endangers the viability of our maritime and air transport services, a true vital artery of our economy and our link with the continent. “This situation is untenable and limits our ability to finance essential public services, thus exacerbating the difficulties encountered by our fellow citizens and our economic actors,” he pointed out.
Arguments to which the Palais du Luxembourg was sensitive, despite the unfavorable opinion that the government had expressed against the amendment of the senator from Haute-Corse. Requesting the withdrawal of the text, the Minister of Public Accounts, Saint-Martin, however assured that the government would table an amendment “ in the second part, to the tune of 50 million euros, as had been done in previous years.” The Senators therefore decided otherwise, just as they decided to reduce the effort requested from communities in the budget by more than a billion euros.
If the National Assembly had already adopted an extension of 50 million euros for the DCT at the beginning of November, this amendment had fallen due to the rejection of the first part of the PLF by the deputies, which had caused the transmission of the initial text from the government in the Senate. For this second round, the PLF is under study before the Senate until December 12 and will then have to go before a joint committee, before a new passage by the National Assembly in public session scheduled for December 18. Finally, the budget must be adopted no later than December 21, the deadline set by the Constitution, and promulgated by the President of the Republic and published in the Official Journal no later than December 31.
