He brushed aside many topics. Prime Minister Michel Barnier spoke at length in an interview published this Sunday in the JDD. Budget, OQTF, state medical aid (AME), law on the end of life… here is what you need to remember.
On the budget, a warning against the temptation of a “Lépine tax competition”
For him, the French economy must maintain its “stability”, one of “the keys to growth and investment”. “I hope that the government, through the budget, guarantees stable conditions to encourage economic actors to invest,” he said, highlighting “a growth rate of 1.1%” and “inflation which continues to decline.
He therefore warns against the temptation of a “Lépine tax competition” during the examination of the 2025 budget in Parliament, after a first week of debates in committee marked by the adoption of numerous amendments creating new taxes. The Finance Committee on Saturday rejected a largely revised draft budget after four days of debate. The parties of the government coalition and the National Rally voted against a text including, under the leadership of the left, billions of euros in new tax revenue.
With the adoption of the amendments of the New Popular Front (NFP), “which did not even fit together, the text had become untenable,” lamented Michel Barnier. “As part of the parliamentary debate, we will pay attention to amendments which preserve or improve competitiveness and, more broadly, economic activity. Because things must be clear: the effort that everyone must take part in cannot turn into a Lépine tax competition,” he said.
He added that he wanted the parliamentary debate to develop, but did not rule out adoption without a vote, via article 49.3 of the Constitution. The Prime Minister once again “committed that no temporary tax, dictated by circumstances, will become permanent”. “I do not want us to increase taxes beyond the temporary effort that we have asked of certain large companies and the wealthiest taxpayers,” he said.
Barnier wants a “spirit of dialogue” on the OQTFs
After insisting on a “fairly unanimous awareness” on the migration issue at European level, Michel Barnier affirms that he wants to “accelerate the implementation of the Asylum and Immigration Pact” voted in April by Brussels “by transposing it into our national law” . Its “rapid application should precisely make it possible to strengthen controls and better organize the processing of asylum applications from the external borders” of the European Union (EU).
Michel Barnier, who went on Friday, with the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, to the Italian border for a working meeting with two Italian ministers (Foreign Affairs and Interior) on the question of immigration, specifies that he will travel to Rome in November to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, from the post-fascist far right.
Concerning foreigners subject to obligations to leave French territory (OQTF) and whose country of origin refuses their return, he says he wants “in a spirit of dialogue”, “to extend or resume discussions with these countries”. “We will not do it aggressively, but by laying out all the tools of bilateral cooperation,” he adds, estimating that “there are countries close to France, such as Algeria and the Morocco, with whom dialogue is possible.” “And we will indeed be able to examine all dimensions, if necessary, from the issuance of visas to development assistance,” he warns.
A desire to “control AME expenses”
On the question of State medical aid (AME) intended for foreigners in an irregular situation, Michel Barnier wants “control of expenses”. “It is important to ensure that the AME is never diverted from its purpose, namely a public health tool,” he adds.
The government said on Tuesday it was in favor of freezing credits devoted to the AME, a change of direction after initially planning to increase them in the 2025 budget. In 2024, the AME represented around 0.5% of government spending. health provided by the Social Security budget (PLFSS). At the end of 2023, there were 466,000 AME beneficiaries.
End of life, New Caledonia, Council of Ministers…
Concerning the law on the end of life, the examination of which ended with the dissolution of the National Assembly, Michel Barnier wants to “consult” the various “stakeholders” (parliamentarians, caregivers, associations, etc.) before resuming discussions. “It is at the end of this consultation that we will specify the timetable and the modalities, based on the work of the National Assembly,” he said.
On New Caledonia, in the grip of a deep crisis for several months, Michel Barnier believes “that the time has come to initiate a new stage”. He indicates that the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher and the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet “will go there together for a mission of dialogue and listening” without giving a date. “I myself will go there,” he added, calling for an “economic and social reconstruction plan”.
Also questioned about Emmanuel Macron’s remarks in the Council of Ministers on the creation of the State of Israel which we revealed on October 15, the Prime Minister reaffirmed that “what is said at the highest level of the State “need not be reported publicly or distorted.”
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