Michel Barnier makes a gesture towards the RN with the freezing of taxes on electricity and a tightening of state medical aid

Michel Barnier declared, in an interview posted online by Le FigaroThursday November 28, having decided not to “increase taxes on electricity” and reduce “significantly” care covered by state medical aid (AME) in the finance bill for 2025, which is currently under debate in Parliament but should be adopted without a vote if the Prime Minister decides to use the article 49.3 of the Constitution.

On these two subjects, the head of government is making a clear gesture towards the National Rally (RN). Marine Le Pen, whom Mr. Barnier met in Matignon on Monday, as president of the parliamentary group of the National Rally, had mentioned the freezing of the increase in taxes on electricity and the AME – including the party of far right wants suppression – among the main demands of its party to consider not voting for censorship of the government in the coming days.

« I have decided not to increase taxes on electricity in the 2025 finance billsaid Mr. Barnier to the daily, while denying responding directly to the RN on this subject: “ Whether in my majority or the opposition leaders that I received: almost all of them asked me to evolve “, he said.

“After years of increases, state medical aid, the cost of which amounts to 1.2 billion euros, is already being stabilized. We are not going to eliminate it, but the “basket of care” covered will be significantly reduced”says Michel Barnier about the AME, always at Figaro. Before announcing: “We are going to initiate a reform of the AME next year to avoid abuses and misappropriations. »

In another gesture, towards the RN but also the presidential camp, who want at all costs to preserve the reductions in charges for companies, Michel Barnier confirmed, Thursday, that they would not be reduced for salaries up to at 2.25 minimum wage. “Ultimately, exemptions from employer contributions will only be reduced by 1.6 billion euros out of a total amount of 80 billion euros per year”he describes Figaro.

The president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, recalled, in a message on X, that “other red lines remain” for his party, as several of its executives have repeated in recent days. Among these, the “additional reimbursement of medications” – or the reduction in the share covered by Health Insurance announced by the government – ​​and the “reindexation of pensions [de retraite, sur l’inflation] from 1^is January “which the executive does not want.

For several days, pressure has been increasing on the government, threatened with censorship in the National Assembly, against a backdrop of bogged down budget discussions. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Antoine Armand, said, as early as Thursday morning, that he was prepared to do “concessions” on budgetary texts, in order to avoid ” storm “ economic and financial that would result, according to him, from the fall of the government without a budget.

“Whatever differences in values ​​we have, today we are faced with an extremely serious situation for the country. The Prime Minister spoke of a “storm”. It is not a word chosen at random, it is a word which has financial, economic and budgetary resonance, and we are obviously ready to make concessions to avoid this storm.declared Mr. Armand on BFM-TV and RMC, two days after the alarm sounded by the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, on “8 p.m.” on TF1.

The minister had already mentioned the tax on electricity, the increase envisaged in the government's draft budget is considered « inadmissible » by the National Rally (RN). The RN deputies can swing the vote on a motion of censure, with their contingent of 140 deputies (including their sixteen allies from Eric Ciotti's group).

This tax, which is one of the main provisions of the draft budget, authorizes the government to raise taxation to a higher level than that which prevailed before the tariff shield against inflation. It is supposed to bring in 3.4 billion euros. While the government highlights a 9% reduction in the French electricity bill, thanks to the fall in wholesale prices on the market, the RN argues that it would be even greater without this increase.

Thursday, Antoine Armand warned all the groups tempted by the vote of a motion of censure, while the left parties allied in the New Popular Front (NFP) – PS, LFI, PCF and Ecologists – promised to table one as soon as the Prime Minister makes use of article 49.3 of the Constitution to allow the adoption of the State budget and/or Social Security in the Hemicycle.