France’s Budget Debate: Left Proposals Clash with a Cautious Plan

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In France, tradition has long held that budgets close in mid-August so Parliament can review them on October 1. Yet the 2025 accounts appear ready to break with that custom, mainly due to a government in limbo.

Currently, one of the country’s top concerns is the budget and the cuts needed to reduce the public deficit, which stands at 5.3%. After six weeks with a caretaker government, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his plan to reuse the previous year’s overall budget, 492 billion euros, as a starting point before Parliament begins the budget debates. The move drew sharp criticism from the left, which called it scandalous and cynical.

For Lucie Castets, the left’s candidate for prime minister, applying an austerity policy in the current context would be inappropriate and reckless. That is why the New Popular Front, a left-wing alliance formed to challenge the far-right in the July 7 legislative elections, seeks a budget that would stimulate France’s economy. Castets explained that the state budget should be raised by 30 billion euros, targeting a total of 522 billion euros, with the aim of investing more in a public sector that pays higher wages and offers free public education.

The New Popular Front has already begun drafting its own budget in case Emmanuel Macron decides to appoint a leftist prime minister. They know time is running short and that public accounts affect many sectors, including civil servants. Yet their budget proposals diverge from the path favored by the Macronists.

The left rejects freezing spending, cutting, or trimming 10 billion euros proposed a few months earlier by the economy minister, Bruno Le Maire. Castets told Libération, “We are working on it and we can make meaningful corrections before the budget vote.” In its plan, the New Popular Front not only avoids cutting expenses but also proposes a 10% salary increase for civil servants, housing assistance during inflation, substantial investment in public services, and higher taxes on top incomes.

Such proposals are enticing, but they contrast with the government’s fiscal recovery trajectory. The current plan aims to reduce the public deficit to 4.1% of GDP by the end of 2025, a target that would require at least 20 billion euros in savings.

The prime minister, in his in-progress letter outlining credit limits to ministers, intends to trim spending by 2%.

Assuming a European commitment

Budget limits are not only set by the outgoing government; Brussels also enforces them. The European standard caps the deficit at 3%, and France is well above that this year with 5.3%. The government must respect its international commitments. Hence, Attal’s circle told La Croix that the prime minister is particularly focused on restoring public finances.

European pressure to return to fiscal stability obliges Matignon to set a boundary while also seeking to form a government that shares that goal. For now, finding that balance remains challenging.

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