The “fiscal specialist” is ready law» in order to avoid the lock down in the State (and by extension in the whole economy) from January 1, 2025 in Franceaccording to what the outgoing Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said today (9.12.24) on the TF1 channel.
The relevant law “could be presented at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers”, he added, either by “the resigned government” or by “a new government”, which – it should be remembered – the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, is trying to form. after the fall of the Barnier government in France.
San Martin’s law, “will make it possible to impose taxes, to have revenue to finance public services, to be able to sign a decree to extend the appropriations of the 2024 budget to 2025,” he said. In other words, the goal is to “avoid closure” (public service p.s.).
After being submitted to the Cabinet, this special law – provided for in Article 45 of the Organic Law on Budget Laws (LOLF) – will have to be voted on by the Assembly and the Senate. “It will be tabled in Parliament before mid-December” to “ensure the continuity of public services and the life of the country”, promised Emmanuel Macron during his speech last Thursday (5.12.2024).
On the other hand, this special law “cannot adjust the income tax scale to inflation”, stressed Laurent Saint-Martin, while the MP of the left-wing party Insubordinate France (LFI) and president of the Assembly’s finance committee Eric Cockerel (Éric Coquerel) announced that he would table a relevant amendment.
“It is not constitutionally possible,” said the resigned minister, ruling that such a measure can only be included in “a new 2025 budget at the beginning of the year.” This opinion was shared by Pierre Moscovici.
“The special law does not aim to change the tax scale,” said the first president of the Audit Court yesterday (8.12.24) on the LCI network. It is not “designed for this purpose”.
“Impossible” to have a budget before December 31st
While this is bad news for taxpayers, with 17.6 million households likely to see their income tax rise – and nearly 380,000 non-taxable households being taxed – the executive shake-up and the absence of a budget for now 2025 is good news for pensioners.
“Pensions will be adjusted no matter what at the beginning of the year, despite the censure,” said Laurent Saint-Martin. Following an agreement reached on “common ground” between the Macronists and the center-right Republican party (LR), the 2025 budget provided for pensions to rise by only “half inflation” (0.8%) on January 1, before a second rise of 0.8% for the smallest pensions in July.
The resigned minister also expressed his disagreements with the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet. On the set of the show “Grand Jury RTL-M6-Le Figaro-Public Sénat” on Sunday, the deputy of the Macron party (Ensemble pour la République, EPR) thought it was possible to “have a budget before December 31”. For Laurent Saint-Martin, this is “impossible”. Therefore, the need for a special law before December 31, before a new budget in the appropriate form at the beginning of the year. “I would like this to be done as soon as possible,” he said, adding, however, that it would take “weeks, months.”