Stage the dialogue being careful not to go too far. Bruno Le Maire revealed this Monday morning on BFMTV some of the opposition amendments that should be kept in the 2023 budget, probably voted in the next few days by 49.3. But several symbolic provisions must be rejected by the executive.
In the menu of the provisions adopted by the Minister of Economy, we find first of all the maintenance of VAT at 5.5% for surgical masks, used by the PS deputy Valérie Rabault.
The amendments of the elected officials “are not the most opposed” to Macron
The amendment of the deputy LR Marc Le Fur who intends to raise the maximum value of restaurant tickets from 11 to 13 euros must also be maintained by the executive. What to see there some winks to the oppositions by the executive in search of the absolute majority in the National Assembly.
“We can clearly see that the amendments that will be kept are clearly not those of the elected officials most opposed to the logic of the budget government,” analyzes Éric Coquerel, president of the LFI Finance Committee, with BFMTV.com.
In a text adopted with 49.3, a constitutional provision for a text to be adopted without going through the ballot box, the government has full freedom over its content. You can thus delete the voted amendments or even add some that have been rejected.
No to the imposition of superdividends, adopted with majority votes
Therefore, the government is walking on a ridge line. While the use of this parliamentary weapon is recorded, the executive is concerned with staging his desire for dialogue by actually integrating various proposals from the opposition in the version of the text that will be adopted at the Palais-Bourbon.
But Bercy is vigilant, avoiding spending considered too expensive or too far from the government’s philosophy, even though they are supported by both the opposition and his own parliamentarians.
The amendment on the taxation of superdividends, presented by Jean-Paul Mattéi, president of the MoDem group and main ally of the government, will not be maintained. It had also been adopted by the National Assembly with the abstention of the Horizontes deputies and the favorable vote of 19 Renaissance deputies, including Freddy Sertin, the substitute for Élisabeth Borne.
“Taxing superdividends is profoundly unfair. We reject it in the name of consistency. I don’t see why we would increase the tax on the employee who has shares but not on the investment fund that has exactly the same shares and has to resell them,” said Bruno Le Maire on Monday on BFMTV.
The need for a “very broad consensus”
Nor should the establishment of a tax credit be maintained for the rest in charge of all residents of nursing homes, defended by the socialist Christine Pirès-Beaune.
This device, which would reduce the costs of nursing homes by about 200 euros a month, was supported by several Renaissance elected officials, much to the chagrin of Bruno Le Maire. The measure is valued at 675 million euros.
“It is very harmful. We had the opportunity to move forward collectively. But to keep the amendments, the government wants them to be the subject of a very broad consensus,” observes MP Stella Dupont (Renaissance) who also presented an amendment along the same lines. .
Do not back down on measures considered positive by the executive
To have. The reestablishment of the “exit tax”, relative to the exit for tax reasons of businessmen, was voted last week in large part by the hemicycle but will not be maintained by the Minister of the Economy, who is fiercely opposed.
Introduced under Nicolas Sarkozy, this tax is aimed at entrepreneurs who decide to move their fiscal domicile abroad, in the event of an effective transfer of their assets in France. Emmanuel Macron had changed the contours of it in the 2019 budget, judging that this tax sent “a negative message to businessmen in France, more than to investors.”
Promoted by the LR Fabrice Brun deputy, this amendment that restores the “exit tax” was adopted thanks to the votes of the opposition but also those of 11 MoDem deputies.
“For three years our country has once again been the most attractive in Europe for foreign investment. There is a positive impact in these reforms”, defended for his part Gabriel Attal, the Minister of Public Accounts, radically opposed to the return of this measure.
“The Perpetual Dilemma”
On the benches of the majority we assume this strategy with variable geometry, ensuring “to do everything so that the debate continues”, as Aurore Bergé, patron saint of the Renaissance deputies, explained this Friday on BFMTV.
So even if that means ranking proposals that are nonetheless partly in the favor of their elected officials.
“In fact, we are in a perpetual dilemma between reaching out, maintaining our goals, and giving our troops some pleasure. It’s hellish. We only have blows to take no matter what we do,” a majority member sighs.
Private jets, the model
However, one sequence was considered successful: that of private jets. After several controversies around these flightsamid sky-high energy prices and after a dramatically dry stateThe government supported an amendment to overtax its fuel, put forward by the chairman of the sustainable development committee, Jean-Marc Zulesi (Renaissance).
The gesture was appreciated, which made it possible to take a step in the direction of Nupes, which wants to ban private jets. This provision was also adopted with broad unanimity by the chamber.
“It’s good, we can say that we have taken small steps towards each other with this provision,” celebrates a party official.
Which gives a bit of balm to the heart of the majority who should adopt the same technique in the coming weeks with the social security budget.
Source: BFM TV
