Europe 1 with AFP 18:20 p.m., December 21, 2023

The state budget for 2024 was definitively adopted on Thursday in the Assembly by the rejection of a motion of censure from the left, signing the end of a year still marked by a series of 49.3 that wears the opposition as well as the majority.

In the shadow of the fiery debates on immigration, it was in a very sparse hemicycle that MEPs met for the last time this year. In calling for censorship, Eric Coquerel, chairman of the Finance Committee, has challenged both the budget and the immigration law, which he considers "ignominious" and "nauseating".

Only 116 MPs voted for the left-wing motion, a far cry from the 289 needed to bring down the government. Its rejection leads to the adoption of the 2024 Finance Bill (PLF).

Ten uses of 49.3

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the creation of more than 2,000 police and gendarme posts, an increase in the resources of the Justice and Defence, revaluations for teachers and a "green budget" with an additional 7 billion euros in favour of the ecological transition.

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As was the case last year, the government has used the constitutional weapon of 49.3 ten times to pass this state budget and the Social Security budget adopted on 4 December without a vote.

49.3, motion of censure, 49.3... The ballet, which is now well regulated, has created a lot of wear and tear in the hemicycle, more than last year when the deputies discovered the new configuration of the National Assembly without an absolute majority. The opposition denounced "contempt for Parliament" and "denial of democracy".

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The government is on a fine line between its spending and the desire to reduce the public deficit to 4.4% of GDP in 2024. Bercy has promised to seek an additional €12 billion in savings per year from 2025, a "difficult" mission, Macronist deputies acknowledge.

The left is already pointing to "austerity". She criticises the government for not doing enough on ecology and housing and for refusing to increase taxes on the wealthiest or large companies.

"A bit stiff"

In the majority, the MoDem has unsuccessfully called for "tax justice" measures such as a tax on the buybacks of large companies, after the one it wanted on "super dividends" last year, but which the government had ruled out.

Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, "is a bit rigid on new recipes," grumbles a centrist deputy. "Share buybacks don't make much money, but it's important politically."

The right, on the other hand, believes that structural savings are missing. In particular, LR has called for a €6 billion cut in the amount of unemployment benefits.

Faced with the high cost of living, Bruno Le Maire stressed on Thursday that "the inflationary crisis is behind us", even if "it remains very hard for many of our compatriots". In the final stretch, the debates focused on housing shortages, a "social bomb", according to many elected officials.

"The 2025 budget will be even more demanding"

Between two 49.3, the government let pass a Senate measure to reduce more drastically than expected the tax loophole enjoyed by rentals of furnished tourist accommodations such as Airbnb. A "material error", the government is told, assuring that the measure will not apply in 2024, despite the voices on the left and in the majority that demand it.

Another controversy, the government has supported against the advice of the opposition advantageous tax measures for international sports federations, whose main purpose is to try to attract to France the powerful Fifa, the great body of world football. A "mini tax haven", denounced Lisette Pollet (RN).

The executive has also adopted a tax voted in the Senate on music streaming platforms, in order to finance the National Music Centre (CNM). Enough to bristle Spotify France which announced in retaliation to stop supporting the Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges, from 2024.

To improve the construction of the budget, the government intends to bring forward budget discussions to next year, including with the opposition. "The 2025 budget will be even more demanding. We have to build it very early," explained Public Accounts Minister Thomas Cazenave.