This Monday, François Bayrou called on the government and parliamentarians to discuss a targeted increase in taxes, as the MoDem has been demanding for several years, which Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire categorically refuses.
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“A discussion can be opened.
The Minister of Economy and Finance is preparing next year's budget (…) It is good that the government and parliamentarians sit around the table and explore freely,” he said. he declared on RTL, questioned about the probable announcement on Tuesday by INSEE of a public deficit in 2023 significantly higher than the 4.9% (of GDP) initially forecast.
#Budget: towards a tax increase?
“A discussion can be opened”@bayrou guest of @amandine_begot in #RTLMatin pic.twitter.com/N7oKept74c
— RTL France (@RTLFrance) March 25, 2024
“Squaring the circle”
Asked about the remarks of the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who mentioned the possibility of taxing companies making “super profits” or paying “super dividends”, François Bayrou recalled that the Modem proposed to the Assembly national “we have already been exploring this path for several budgetary years”.
“If there are rebalancing measures, they must go towards those who have the most means, including the most means depending on the crisis, without breaking the image of France which allows attract investors,” he argued, recognizing that this was “squaring the circle.”
François Bayrou suggested that he was opposed to a new reform of unemployment insurance, aimed at reducing the duration of compensation, as envisaged by the government.
“I do not believe that the main culprits of unemployment are the unemployed, especially since a certain number of them have lost work skills over time.
We must therefore reform them,” he judged.