They are frozen, like rabbits caught in headlights. The nearly 1,200 state agencies (public bodies, operators, etc.) — and the more than 408,000 people who work there — are waiting to know their fate. In the corridors of the CNRS, the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (Ademe), Business France or – less known – the Public Agency for Real Estate, Justice, A public establishment in the Marais Poitevin, we are watching for imminent announcements from ministers listing possible mergers or eliminations of agencies deemed too expensive or redundant with other structures.
Because the hunt for savings is on. François Bayrou's government has planned a budgetary effort of 53 billion euros for 2025, including 32 billion euros in public spending alone. State agencies, which cost 81 billion euros in 2024, are therefore in the sights. How much should the bill be? It's too early to tell. But the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, announced that a reduction of “5% on the expenditure of all these agencies is more than two billion euros in savings”.
France
