The department of Seine-Saint-Denis sends its “invoice for equality” to the Elysée – Libération

To denounce the financial disengagement of the State in financing social assistance, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis sent a symbolic invoice “for equality” of 434 million euros to Emmanuel Macron.

In the Elysée mailbox, not a greeting card or a Christmas package, but a hefty bill. Thursday, December 19, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis decided to play the angry accountant by sending Emmanuel Macron directly a “bill for equality” of 434 million euros. The objective: to highlight the financial disengagement of the State which has transferred social skills to the departments since 2004 without fully ensuring funding. The amount entered on the invoice corresponds to all the aid paid by the department on behalf of the State during the year 2024.

Seine-Saint-Denis is not at its first publicity stunt: a similar approach was carried out in 2018 with a bill then estimated at 346 million euros. And in September, the president of the departmental council, Stéphane Troussel (PS), stepped up to the plate in reaction to the accusations made by the then resigned ministers of Bercy, Bruno Le Maire and Thomas Cazenave, who had attributed responsibility to local authorities of the announced deterioration of public finances. Qualifying the collectives