government Emmanuel Macron You will have a customized budgethowever, this may come with a political cost that will damage its image. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced in the National Assembly this Wednesday afternoon that the first part of the 2023 budget has been approved. through a government decree.
The centrist leader endorsed the use of controversial Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the Executive to approve next year’s accounts. without parliamentary vote. It was a possibility that was discussed for days in the French press. But his official statement risks bolstering the image of a president who rules with an iron fist and listens little to the opposition.
“When we started the budget debate, we knew the challenges we faced,” Borne said in a short speech to the House. “All oppositions reaffirmed their willingness to reject the text,” said this leader, who has led the executive branch since May. Since the legislative elections in June, the coalition of the parties concerned has Macron left without an absolute majority in the lower house, nothing unusual in France, where presidential parties usually have a large majority. And it would have to make numerous concessions to the opposition in order to pass the budget the traditional way.
“Sign of Weakness”
In this case, the Executive could bow to the demands of the Republicans (LR, related to the PP in France), who, with 62 seats, represent the fourth power in the Assembly – behind the united alliance of the left (NUPES, 151 deputies). ) and the far-right National Regrouping (89)—but a Manager is more center right oriented. However, Macron and the Borne government gave up this option and preferred the 49.3 fast track.
“The use of 49.3 is a sign of weakness On behalf of the Government, which does not know how to work with the political plurality of the Assembly”, France Insumisa of Mélenchon, deputy of the green Cyrielle Chatelain, part of her party NUPES, criticized the Socialist Party and the Communist Party. Party. This coalition of the left, submission of no-confidence motion.
However, this has no chance of success. The opposition is a majority in terms of seats, but is divided into opposing ideological poles. “Government, more isolated than ever”, said Jean-Philippe Tanguy (far right), representative of Le Pen’s party, as he left the hemicycle.
No special tax for big companies
No government since 1992 had resorted to controversial 49.3 to approve budgets, arguably one of the most important laws. Despite being associated with the executive’s will to impose itself on the legislature, different governments have used this mechanism 89 times throughout the history of the Fifth Republic. One of the leaders who used it most often was the socialist Michel Rocard, who ruled in the minority. A scenario similar to that of Borne and Macron.
With this mechanism, Macronist Executive ensures the approval of accounts tailored to their needs. They will not include media changes A setback for the president in parliament has been considered, such as the approval of the “super-dividends” tax on large corporations, which was passed in recent weeks. They will also maintain their 5% deficit target.
After some budgets over the past three years have been marked by a significant increase in spending to deal with the pandemic, the budgets of 2023 are characterized by a return to the ideological path of the past. Despite maintaining around 11,000m euros in public aid to deal with the energy crisis, they are betting on controlling spending and reducing taxes on companies.