The development of a new finance law in France in a context of an abysmal deficit and guarantees from the parties not to censor the government from its first hours are the main ingredients for the success of the mission of the new tenant of Matignon , the centrist François Bayrou.
Appointed after the standoff over the social budget between the left-wing parties and the National Rally (RN) and Michel Barnier which earned the latter his position as prime minister, Mr. Bayrou, a man of consensus, must play the balancing act to put together a new finance law in record time and ensure not to fall into the trap of his predecessor by using the highly flammable article of the Constitution, the famous 49.3, to pass texts without approval deputies.
Before that, Mr. Bayrou, 73 years old, will have to compose his government according to the guidelines of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron who wants a tight cabinet serving the general interest, on the basis of a “republican arc” where all the political forces outside the RN and “La France Insoumise” (LFI) come together around a government project.
To this end, François Bayrou began his consultations with the parties on Monday except the members of LFI who declined the invitation addressed to them.
He began by receiving the president of the group of deputies RN Marine Le Pen, accompanied by his party president, Jordan Bardella to ensure that they will not pull the censorship trigger so quickly once the government is formed.
The new tenant of Matignon then received the now president of the Renaissance Party, Gabriel Attal, then the leaders of the Socialist Party (PS), Boris Vallaud, Patrick Kanner and Olivier Faure and finally the president of the Republicans Laurent Wauquiez.
From these consultations which will continue this Tuesday, Mr. Bayrou will have to measure the support available to him and refine his team which he wants to be tighter and dominated by “experienced personalities”.
If the socialists decline for the moment any participation in the future government, they nevertheless concede to having had “a serious and cordial exchange, in a logic of compromise” with Mr. Bayrou, says the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure. The latter even say they are ready to discuss with him on different subjects, such as the idea of a “social conference”, on the thorny issue of pensions or even the taxation of high incomes.
As for the Republicans, who are not being asked to enter the new government if they will be represented there “significantly”, they demand a “road map” which corresponds to their priorities, in particular the subject of immigration and the emergency agricultural.
Monday evening, the National Assembly offered a first gift to François Bayrou by unanimously adopting the special bill aimed at allowing the continuity of public services and social security.
This bill, which will be debated in the Senate this Tuesday, will authorize the State to continue to collect taxes and to renew expenditures at the same level as the 2024 financial year.
This emergency law, which responds to “an exceptional and serious situation”, according to the resigning Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, is provisional while awaiting texts aimed at providing the State with a budget for 2025.
“This text in no way preempts future budgetary discussions. It has only one objective: to ensure, on an exceptional and transitional basis, the continuity of the life of the nation. This special law makes it possible to avoid the shutdown”, For his part, insisted the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, who spoke to the deputies last night to explain this emergency law.
For Mr. Bayrou, the consultations initiated in recent days and the composition of his future government will be crucial in view of the budgetary debates to come in a difficult economic situation.
Friday during the transfer of power with his predecessor Michel Barnier, the new tenant of Matignon reported “a Himalaya” of difficulties, particularly budgetary ones, to be resolved.
“No one knows the difficulty of the situation more than me. I took reckless risks in my political life to raise the question of debt and deficits,” he declared.
“I know nothing of the Himalayas that lie before us, of difficulties of all kinds,” he added, noting that France faces a deficit which reaches 6.1% of GDP and a debt whose interest amounts to 60 billion euros per year.
With MAP
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