The government intends “act quickly and well” to provide the country with a budget. Since January 1, France's accounts have been governed by a “special law”, adopted urgently after the censorship of Michel Barnier's government, to avoid a “shutdown”. The text allows taxes to be levied and spending to be renewed at the same level as in 2024, but “blocks any new projects”according to the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin.
To remedy this situation, the government of François Bayrou therefore intends to adopt a real budget for 2025 in the coming weeks. Consultations to this effect began on Monday with the various political forces and continued on Wednesday at the Ministry of the Economy.
Government forecast timetable for the 2025 budget
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Until January 14
Political consultations at the Ministry of the Economy
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January 14
General policy statement by François Bayrou
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From mid-January
Resumption of parliamentary work
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Between mid-February and the end of February
Adoption you budget
Discussions with representatives of political parties and parliamentary groups began with Marc Fesneau, president of the MoDem group in the Assembly. A socialist delegation notably made up of the first secretary Olivier Faure, the presidents of the parliamentary groups, Boris Vallaud and Patrick Kanner, and the president of the committee of finances of the Senate, Claude Raynal, was received Monday afternoon. Representatives of the Horizons party and the president of the Les Républicains group in the Senate, Mathieu Darnaud, had a meeting on Tuesday morning.
Discussions continue on Wednesday at 2 p.m. with elected communist officials, in the presence of the party president, Fabien Roussel, and the group presidents, André Chassaigne and Cécile Cukierman. The national secretary of Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, and the group leaders Cyrielle Chatelain and Guillaume Gontard, will then be welcomed at the end of the afternoon. The rebellious deputy Eric Coquerel will be received Thursday afternoon as chairman of the finance committee at the Assembly. Representatives of the National Rally will be heard on Friday.
At the same time, Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister of Public Accounts, specified that she was also conducting consultations alongside her counterpart from Labor and Health, Catherine Vautrin, on the Social Security financing bill.
These discussions should allow the government to refine its draft budget in view of the Prime Minister's general policy declaration scheduled for January 14 before Parliament. François Bayrou should then unveil the main points of the finance bill and the Social Security financing bill.
The government has already made it known that it will not start from a blank copy, but from Michel Barnier's version, whose examination by the Senate was stopped by the vote of a motion of censure at the beginning of December. The budget which was being debated in Parliament “will be profoundly transformed”however assured Eric Lombard, the Minister of the Economy, on France Inter.
Parliamentary work on the budget will then resume from the “mid-January”according to the Minister of Public Accounts. “We aim to have a budget (…) during February, so that, by the end of February at the latest, the French can emerge from uncertainty”, ambitions Amélie de Montchalin. In December, François Bayrou said he hoped for adoption of the budget “in mid-February”without however being “sure to get there”.
