The Constitutional Council validated on Thursday the essentials of the government finance law for 2023, and in particular the modalities of use of article 49-3 of the constitution, attacked by certain deputies.
Article 49-3 allows the government to have a legislative text adopted without a vote, committing itself to its responsibility. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has used this procedure ten times for the 2023 finance law, which can be used unlimitedly in budgetary matters.
The petitioning deputies had considered it unconstitutional to compromise “the responsibility of the government before the National Assembly on voting on the first and then on the second part” of the budget project, arguing that “the constitution would impose exercising this prerogative on voting on the entire project “, recalls the Council in its decision.
The Constitutional Council rejects seven measures
The Constitutional Council decided that the parliamentarians’ right to amend had been respected, rejecting the referral of deputies who considered that the amendments had not “been dealt with” or “inscribed on the agenda.”
Finally, the high court declared the 2023 budgets sincere, dismissing the grievances of the deputies who questioned the Government’s economic forecasts based on the reservations expressed by the Higher Council of Public Finance in its opinion of September 21.
The Constitutional Council ruled in particular that the growth forecast of 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 on which the budget is based is not flawed “with the intention of distorting the main lines of the balance of the budget law”.
However, the High Court excluded seven articles from the text, considering that their purpose is not of a budgetary nature.
Article 82, which intended to introduce a new article in the customs code, providing that the judicial authority notifies the customs administration of any information it collects, is rejected, as well as article 98, which authorized the government to modify by ordinance “the framework applicable to the carrying out inspection operations of goods, means of transport and people” by the same customs.
Article 143 establishing a transport financing conference in Île-de-France is also censured. On Tuesday, the Constitutional Council had already validated most of the Social Security budget for 2023, apart from the reimbursement of certain strikes prescribed by teleconsultation.
Source: BFM TV
