Will “whatever it takes” be held accountable? The Republicans deputies will launch a commission of inquiry into the reasons for the “very strong growth in debt under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron”, in a context of strong tension between the executive and parliamentarians on the financial situation public, AFP learned from parliamentary sources.
This parliamentary inquiry will also focus on the consequences of the growth in debt “on the purchasing power of the French”. France’s public deficit reached 5.5% of GDP in 2023 according to INSEE, or 15.8 billion euros more than expected. The government, however, maintains its objective of reducing the public deficit below 3% of GDP in 2027. Ten billion euros in savings have already been made for 2024, and 20 billion in cuts are announced for 2025.
The Mayor and Attal soon to be auditioned?
“We decided to use our drawing right”, confirmed this Tuesday the president of the group Olivier Marleix, which will allow the group to obtain de facto the creation of this commission. LR deputy Philippe Juvin will run for president of the commission, he added. “It will be interesting to know what advice the government has surrounded itself with,” declared Olivier Marleix, implying that the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, and the Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, former Minister of Public Accounts, could be among those interviewed.
“There are solutions that we knew from day one would be bad. “Whatever it costs” was very good but it was not forbidden to try to spend as little as possible, as intelligently as possible,” added Olivier Marleix.
To raise taxes or not to touch them?
The work could begin around “the end of April”, “just before the expected decisions of the rating agencies (Fitch and Moody’s on April 26, Editor’s note)”, says a source within the LR group.
The deterioration of public finances and the solutions to be found are the subject of a standoff between the executive and parliamentarians, even in the majority, divided on the dogma of not touching taxes, particularly on the wealthy. , to cover part of the debt. Gabriel Attal also announced this Tuesday to Renaissance deputies the launch of a mission responsible for making proposals “on the taxation of annuities between now and June”.
The threat of a motion of censure looms again
Until now the government has operated by decree, without resorting to an amending budget which would involve going back to Parliament, and would resurrect the threat of a motion of censure which, if carried or supported by the right, would have the most impact. chances of being adopted.
Accusing the government of having presented a budget last fall marked by “insincerity”, LR boss Éric Ciotti wrote to Gabriel Attal on Friday to demand the passage of a amending budget. And unlike previous years, LR now willingly lets the threat of a government motion of censure hover over a budgetary text.
On Tuesday, the LFI group announced that it would table a spontaneous motion of censure if the government did not return to Parliament via an amending budget.