On the occasion of the 4th RT of the Moselle department, elected officials reaffirmed their support for the public service and farmers.
The Moselle departmental council, meeting for its 4th quarterly meeting in Forbach since Monday, was to vote on its budget for this session. But the appointment of Michel Barnier, then his resignation imposed yesterday, made the draft national budget obsolete and forced elected officials to postpone the debate until January. For this 4th RT, the departmental councilors therefore voted on two motions: one on the defense of local public services, another on the defense of Moselle farmers.
“Attachment to local public service”
Despite Michel Barnier's remarks at the assembly of the Departments of France, which were greeted and applauded by elected officials, notably Patrick Weiten, the council was still worried, at the start of the week, about budgetary measures which could increase the budget of the communities. “The communities are obliged, unlike the State, to vote for balanced budgets and represent less than 8% of the public debt – less than 1.5% for the Departments -, a stable proportion for around thirty years, when they assume more than two thirds of public investment.
The concern therefore remains, even more so now that the budget has not been voted on, particularly for the public service already in difficulty with a current out-of-pocket cost of 12 billion euros per year for individual solidarity allowances. . The assembly therefore voted on a motion to alert the government to the consequences of a finance and social security bill which would be voted on as it stands and to reaffirm its “attachment to local public service”.
-A risk for Moselle agricultural policy
The assembly also voted on a motion “for the defense of Moselle farmers”. The agreement to expand the free trade area between the EU and Mercosur, concluded in June 2019, has not been ratified. France fears a negative effect on the agricultural and food sectors, or on the environment (greenhouse gases, deforestation) and health. “The President of the European Commission plans to split the agreement in two so that it can be ratified by a majority of the Council without the national parliaments”, a decision which would “undermine the entire Moselle agricultural policy, and the ambitions in terms of short circuit for preserving biodiversity”.
The elected officials thus reiterate their “support for Moselle agriculture in the face of the threat of this free trade treaty on French agriculture and our food sovereignty”. The council also asks the government to reaffirm France's position on the adoption of this agreement and to oppose a separate adoption of the treaty.
