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The Élysée has launched a call for tenders for its supply of champagne for the next four years. © Yoan Valat/AP/SIPA
The objective of 20 billion euros in savings seems far away. In an article dated April 12, the media l’Informed revealed that it had become aware of a call for tenders from the Élysée for the least expensive. The Presidency of the Republic is indeed seeking to restock its champagne supply for cocktails and receptions for the next four years. In total, the Palais estimates that it will have to order 11,040 bottles over the period, for a maximum total amount set at 550,000 euros excluding tax.
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In detail, the Élysée specified in its call for tenders to order in particular each year around 2,760 bottles of non-vintage champagne, or 1,500 bottles of rosé champagne and 1,260 bottles of classic champagne. These bottles are served “during various receptions and during internal and institutional events”, specifies the order form. During the visit of King Charles III to Versailles, a Pol Roger cuvée Winston Churchill 2013 champagne in magnum, or 700 euros per bottle, was for example served.
Target 20 billion euros in savings for 2025
The Élysée specifies, however, that “the number of bottles consumed as well as the number of annual deliveries are given on a provisional and non-contractual basis; these figures may increase or decrease depending on the needs of the presidency.” This staggering order comes as the government is trying to make 20 billion euros in savings in 2025.
On March 6, the Minister for Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, declared before the deputies of the Finance Committee that he had to find a way to “ guarantee that the 10 billion [d’euros] savings made in 2024 are sustainable “. “ We must increase our effort from 12 to 20 billion euros in additional savings for the year 2025 “, he added. If the executive launched, last November, a battery of “ expenditure reviews » to achieve this objective, the order from the Élysée does not seem to be part of it.
