Like a sense of deja vu. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne once again activated the constitutional weapon of 49.3 on Thursday, to have the “revenue” part of the 2024 Social Security budget adopted without a vote, at second reading in the Assembly.
“The Social Security financing bill is the very heart of our social model. He brings together and protects the French. We cannot take the risk of depriving them of it,” justified the Prime Minister in a short statement from the podium of an Assembly with sparse ranks. This is the 18th 49.3 used by Élisabeth Borne or on her behalf since her appointment to Matignon. This is the 7th since the resumption of parliamentary work at the end of September.
A new 49.3 on the “expenses” part of Social Security?
The LFI group immediately announced the tabling of a motion of censure, which should, like the others, fail to obtain a majority of the votes of the deputies, which will allow the government to see this part of the text adopted, before a very probable new 49.3 on the “expenses” part.
This Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) provides for expenditure increasing by 3.2% in 2024 compared to 2023, to 254.9 billion euros. The “Secu” deficit, set at 8.8 billion euros in 2023 then 10.7 billion in 2024 according to the government’s latest forecasts, could reach 17.5 billion by 2027. The bill had was adopted Tuesday by senators in a substantially revised version.
If the government has essentially returned to the previous version, that of the Assembly, it has made two concessions on particularly sensitive points, Agirc-Arcco and franchises.