after the rejection of the Zucman tax, Sébastien Lecornu promises concessions to the PS and offers himself a reprieve

He was the main character in a day that had to go by without him. When Sébastien Lecornu arrives at the National Assembly, Friday October 31, shortly before noon, the deputies have been struggling for almost three hours on the big piece of the fall: the finance bill (PLF). “It’s unprecedented for a Prime Minister to come to the bench on certain amendments”underlined a minister before her arrival. It must be said that the budgetary menu of the day was eagerly awaited, between article 3 concerning the tax on asset holding companies and the amendments on the Zucman tax targeting the highest assets.

When they see him arrive at the Palais-Bourbon, parliamentarians from all sides expect the Prime Minister to speak on these two subjects. “Either he is there to make announcements, or to try to organize his troops”believes the ecologist Jérémie Iordanoff upon the arrival of the Prime Minister and his side’s deputies. But once in the hemicycle, the head of government remains silent, even when opposition deputies challenge him and ask him to speak. He is content to fill in the files, to discuss with his Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, and to increase the number of meetings with his advisors. For now, Sébastien Lecornu is still just a spectator of the debates.

Meanwhile, discussions are progressing slowly on the tax on holding companies, introduced by the government in the initial text of the PLF. The first twist of the day comes shortly before 1 p.m. At that time, the general rapporteur of the budget, the deputy LR Philippe Juvin, managed to vote, with the support of the presidential bloc and the National Rally, a clear restriction of this tax. The left is fuming, having already denounced a small-scale measure to tax high wealth.

The second highlight takes place when the debates resume, at 3 p.m., with the highly anticipated examination of the amendments aimed at introducing the famous Zucman tax and its variants, including the “light” Zucman tax, defended by the socialists. Left-wing parliamentarians are speaking out to ask the government to give in on one of these measures, but the “common base” of the center and the right is firmly opposed. “The Zucman tax is a mirage”sweeps away Charles Sitzenstuhl, from the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) group. The Budget Minister drives the point home and relays the opinion of the Council of State – which the government is committed to publishing quickly – on the unconstitutionality of the amendment to the Zucman “light” tax. As for the right, it is increasingly clashing with the left, its biggest adversary in the hemicycle.

“By taxing everything, you will no longer have anything to tax.”

Laurent Wauquiez, boss of Les Républicains deputies

in the National Assembly

Thanks to the votes of the RN, also opposed to any Zucman tax, the scenario anticipated by many came to fruition around 5:30 p.m.: all the amendments from the left demanding more “tax justice” are widely rejected. Opposite, while LFI is once again calling for censorship of the government, the socialists are for the moment empty-handed in this area. The executives of the rose party, Olivier Faure and Boris Vallaud, had nevertheless had lunch with the Prime Minister a few hours earlier, triggering taunts from LFI and the RN. The PS deputies do not let up and censorship is getting closer “at high speed”warns a deputy. “The Prime Minister will have to say very quickly if he is able to move at home. Otherwise censorship will be inevitable,” warns a PS deputy.

6:28 p.m. Silent for more than six hours, Sébastien Lecornu gets up and speaks. The hemicycle falls silent. “I spent my day listening”begins the Prime Minister, immediately recalling the supposed unconstitutionality of the Zucman tax and its alternative. “I come, in all honesty, to think that there is no tax which is not censored by the Constitutional Council, and which has a high yield of 15 billion euros. I do not believe it”asserts the head of government. Hard blow to the socialist benches. If Boris Vallaud’s deputies had mourned the “light” Zucman tax, they were nevertheless waiting for a measure to release this amount, moreover.

But a few minutes later, a new twist. Sébastien Lecornu delivers new concessions to the socialists, after the suspension of the pension reform, promised for a long time and approved in committee. The tenant of Matignon says he is in favor of unfreezing retirement pensions and social minimums, measures contained in the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS). Failing to find a compromise on the PLF, the former boss of the Armed Forces is trying on the other budgetary text. “He gave up a lot”comments an influential EPR MP.

Thirty minutes later, Boris Vallaud, the president of the PS group, said “take note” announcements from the Prime Minister, while questioning his ability to be followed by the deputies of the “common base”. In fact, part of the macronie is hardly enthusiastic about the proposals of the head of government. A deputy denounces an action “great cowardice” of the Prime Minister in favor of the socialists. “We have it across our throats”confides another Macronist MP. “Refusing to receive social benefits means giving up on saving money”.

“The left should rejoice. Don’t ask me to applaud.”

A Macronist deputy

at franceinfo

It is “skillful” on the part of the Prime Minister, notes another parliamentarian from the central bloc. Unlike the socialists, “we cannot censor” the Prime Minister, recalls this elected official.

In the process, Olivier Faure first welcomes the gesture of the Prime Minister. “It would be absurd if we did not hear what you announced and I thank you for that”advances the boss of the PS, who boasts to the press of having “recovered 5 billion euros in a few minutes (…) We didn’t get anything, he insists. As it stands, however, a vote for, or even an abstention, seems excluded: “If the copy of the budget was maintained as it is today, the socialists would vote against it.” From now on, the PS has in its sights the restoration of the 10% reduction on retirees. “It makes sense that we continue to seek to move forward”maintains the boss of the socialists.

Does censorship still hover over Matignon? The threat “will be until the end of the debates. There are a lot of recipes missing. If it’s not Zucman, then it’s somewhere else.” assures a tenor of the PS. Others are even more explicit. “The Prime Minister keeps us in the illusion of being open to compromise because time is on his side”slips a socialist deputy.

“I think that censorship is completely in the majority in the socialist group and that Lecornu has never been so close to it.”

A PS deputy

at franceinfo

An attitude which deeply annoys the Macronist troops, forced to swallow several snakes already since the start of the debates. “The compromise cannot be all of the PS, only the PS, only the PS”castigates, in front of journalists, the EPR deputy, Prisca Thevenot.

From the bench, the Prime Minister spoke again, and announced that he would ask the ministers concerned by the budget to bring together “all the people that each group president will designate, to try to reach an agreement” on the “great principles” of the PLF and the PLFSS. It remains to be seen whether all the groups will go there. Comment from a former Matignon advisor: “Sébastien Lecornu bought himself a little time, but he still hasn’t left the inn.”