In the absence of a 2025 budget, the special law was promulgated by Emmanuel Macron

Budgetary palliative submitted urgently to Parliament pending a budget in due form, the special law to “guarantee the continuity of national life” was promulgated on Friday by Emmanuel Macron, according to the Official Journal published Saturday December 21.

After the censorship of the Barnier government and in the absence of a budget for 2025, Parliament adopted this text in order to authorize the executive to levy taxes and borrow to finance the State and Social Security. The law was promulgated by the head of state of Mamoudzou, in Mayotte, where the latter went on Thursday and Friday to see the immensity of the damage and needs in the French department, devastated by cyclone Chido.

With this law, “the continuity of the State is maintained and guaranteed, but temporarily”reacted the resigning budget minister, Laurent Saint-Martin, Saturday morning on X. “The need to provide the country with a budget for 2025 remains, as does the urgency of straightening out our public accounts”he added.

“This special law gives everything the State needs to ensure its essential functions at the beginning of 2025, but nothing more. It must be completed as quickly as possible” by a budget, also underlined on December 18 the general rapporteur of the finance committee in the Senate, Jean-François Husson (Les Républicains).

The new Prime Minister, François Bayrou, said Thursday evening on France 2 that he hoped for the adoption of a 2025 budget “in mid-February”recognizing that I am not “not sure I’ll make it”. He specified that he would leave from “the copy that was voted on” in Parliament before the previous government's censure. Mr. Bayrou, appointed on December 13 to replace Mr. Barnier, also said he would like his government to be presented “during the weekend”or “in any case, before Christmas”avant “Tuesday evening”.