the essential
In order to try to fill the public deficit, instead of reversing the exemptions from charges granted to businesses as proposed by Michel Barnier, the Macronists would prefer to defend the elimination of a public holiday.
Ascension or August 15? During the recent meeting of the Renaissance group at the National Assembly, the discussions were not there yet but almost. “What is certain is that if we destroy a public holiday, it will be a Catholic thing and in my circle, it will get stuck,” an elected official from the Ile-de-France region complained already on Thursday. The abolition of a second public holiday, after Pentecost trivialized by Jean-Pierre Raffarin in 2003, is indeed in the Macronist pipeline. The idea, mentioned for the first time by Gérald Darmanin in September, should make it possible to find sources of income without, as Michel Barnier would like, lowering exemptions from charges on salaries and therefore increasing the cost of labor.
“We are not excited”
The possibility of replacing exemptions from charges by the elimination of a public holiday was therefore debated on Tuesday during the meeting of the Ensemble Pour la République (EPR) group. The discussion was launched by Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin. Some deputies like Élisabeth Borne intervened to express their reluctance. “We’re not thrilled, but it’s always better than touching on exemptions from charges. In any case, no one has said a categorical no,” a Macronist elected official tells us. Some are even quite enthusiastic, like this early walker who assured us this week: “If Barnier lets us go for the 5 million exemptions from charges for businesses, we will take the day of solidarity on our shoulders.”
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Those close to the Élysée present the drop in the cost of labor, which according to them has made it possible to bend the unemployment curve, as an essential marker of macronism, a totem that they want to defend at all costs. A standoff even began between the head of state and his Prime Minister. During the inauguration of the “Made in France” exhibition at the Élysée Palace on October 25, in a speech that went somewhat unnoticed, Emmanuel Macron said: “I am like you, I listen to the debates, I read the newspapers, I turn on the television… All this (the good health of French companies Editor’s note) is not possible if we increase taxes and if we increase the cost of labor We will not solve the problem of the public deficit. returning entirely on the coherence of a macroeconomic policy.
The Prime Minister not supportive
“While we are announcing social plans at Michelin and Auchan, it would be crazy to go back on exemptions which will mechanically increase the cost of labor,” an MP linked to the Elysée assured us on Thursday. And a former centrist minister confirmed to us: “A public holiday is not something that should be refused out of principle. We have to see where the balance point is. An extra day of work is 3 or 4 billion. Even the Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand says he has heard the “concerns expressed by companies and the EPR group” about the increase in contributions on low salaries, and he would consider, to compensate, an increase in the duration of the working time.
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But for the moment Michel Barnier is resisting. His entourage let us know on Friday that the Prime Minister was not in favor of the idea. However, it could come back to him like a boomerang from the senatorial right which, for its part, hopes thanks to this new windfall to avoid reducing the resources of local authorities. “Are we going further in eliminating a day of solidarity? Nothing is taboo. Here in the Senate, a PPL (proposed law) has been ready for a long time on the subject, we can table it when we want”, assured us a heavyweight from the Palais du Luxembourg a few days ago.
What to add fuel to the fire when many unions are calling for mobilization? “There will be no social movement because we are eliminating a public holiday,” assures The Dispatch a former minister who adds: “and then, we don’t make a budget to be popular”. This is at least one point of agreement with Michel Barnier.
