budget debates bog down as November 23 deadline draws near

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There is little time left for many amendments. All day, Monday, November 3, the deputies continued their marathon around the budget, and always these same fractures, as around the inheritance this morning. “In the France we know today, it is not work that makes fortune. Among the nine people who became billionaires in 2024, seven are super-heirs”underlined Aurélien Le Coq, LFI deputy from the North.“We can clearly see that this is a very broad social debate, and I suggest that today, we do not launch into this fundamental debate in a few hours”replied the Minister responsible for Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin.

So how do we overcome these clashes? This afternoon, the government tried a lunch to put the pieces back together. Issue ? The entire left shunned the invitation. In question, the presence of the invited RN too. “We cannot, on the one hand, say every day that racism is a danger for the Republic and, at the same time, exchange bottles of wine”points out Philippe Brun, PS deputy for Eure. A lunch which does not seem to have convinced the RN deputies either: “We are supposed to vote on the first and second parts of the state budget on November 23 and, clearly, we will not succeed. Obviously, we are heading straight towards the ordinances or the special law”believes Matthias Renault, RN deputy for the Somme.

Meanwhile, the debates continue briskly. More than 2,000 amendments still need to be studied in the chamber. Tuesday, November 4, it will be the turn of the PLFSS to be discussed, the Social Security financing bill. However, an institution is warning of a possible slippage in the deficit. The whistleblower of the day is him, Pierre Moscovici, at the head of the Court of Auditors. In view of the turn of the debates in the Assembly, the hole in Social Security would, according to him, have reached an unsustainable level: “The situation is quite worrying since the Social Security deficit stands at 23 billion euros and has therefore doubled over the past two years, with an increase of 7.7 billion euros this year. We must act and act strongly and quickly”he emphasizes.

However, several cost-saving measures planned by the government, such as medical deductibles, could fall by the wayside under pressure from oppositions.