An "
incomplete
", "
insincere
", "
cosmetic
", "
electoral propaganda
"
budget
: the Senate dominated by the right-wing opposition is likely to shorten the examination at first reading of the last draft budget of the five-year Macron term, which begins Thursday in the hemicycle, in principle for three weeks.
"
We will proceed to the examination of the first part, the receipts, and it is likely that we will not go much further,
" general rapporteur Jean-François Husson (LR) told AFP.
"
There is a good chance that the second part will not be examined,
" confirms the boss of centrist senators Hervé Marseille.
Read also France 2030: an amendment to the 2022 budget to ... 34 billion
If it rejects the "
revenue
" part, the Senate will not be able to debate the "
expenditure
" part, devoted to the appropriations of the various ministries. "
We can see that compared to the initial finance bill (PLF) tabled by the government, there was behind an avalanche of new announcements
", deplores the general rapporteur, criticizing "
the electoral clientelism
" of the government majority . Between the presentation of the draft budget and the end of its first reading examination in the National Assembly on Tuesday, 11.8 billion in additional spending was added, to bring the deficit forecast to 5% of GDP in 2022, with a negative balance of 155 billion euros.
In addition to "
an insincere and electoral budget
", the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau denounces "
a contempt of Parliament
". "
We don't care
," launches a senator from the group, used to budget discussions. In 2016, the Upper Assembly, already held by the right, had opted for an outset rejection of the last budget of François Hollande's five-year term, criticizing a 2017 budget “
disguised as a stolen car
”. LR was tempted to repeat the operation by voting a rejection motion. But the centrists, the second component of the senatorial majority, put an end to it. They felt "
that one could be critical vis-à-vis a cosmetic budget, euphoric, but that it was necessary to examine it.
», Explains their group president.
Read also Jacques-Olivier Martin: "President Macron's ticket helicopter"
For their part, the PS senators - the second largest group in the Senate - did not fuss, regretting a position "
which weakens the Senate institution
".
"
We are unfavorable to the PLF as presented by the government, but we want to discuss it, and revenue, and expenditure,
" says their leader on this text, Rémi Féraud.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire defends "
a PLF of recovery and investment
", marking "
the end of
whatever costs" wanted by the President of the Republic during the health crisis. He praises the new growth, 6.25% expected in 2021 and 4% in 2022, and the drop in unemployment. Before the Senate Finance Committee, he also praised a budget which "
chooses a policy of sovereign rearmament
".
The PLF was largely completed in the Assembly, over the debates and presidential announcements, with in particular the adoption of "
the most expensive amendment of the Fifth Republic
", a promise of 34 billion euros in investments. to roll out over several years the France 2030 investment plan announced by Emmanuel Macron to “
reindustrialize
” the country and “
decarbonize
” the economy.
In 2022, the first tranche of this plan represents 3.5 billion euros.
See also Emmanuel Macron: "An excellent balance sheet obtained on credit"
Other additions, some 550 million for the "
youth engagement contract
" presented by the President of the Republic on November 2, the plan for Marseille, including 30 million in subsidies and 100 million in advances repayable from 2022 for transport, or more measures for the harkis, with a first tranche of 50 million euros from 2022. “
All this clearly reflects an executive already in the countryside who also mortgages the future, since by loading the boat, we risk giving a blow stopping or slowing down growth,
”analyzes François Husson. "
There was supposedly no magic money, there is, but there is no magic slate
He warns.
The general rapporteur recalls the opinion of the High Council of Public Finances (HCFP) which regretted an insufficient debt reduction effort.
