The government chose once again, Monday November 13, to use article 49.3 of the Constitution to have the public finance programming law 2023-2027 adopted, in the absence of Elisabeth Borne, on an official trip to Ireland . In an almost empty hemicycle, the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Franck Riester, took charge of reading a message from the Prime Minister committing the government to responsibility.
The deputies of the La France insoumise (LFI) group immediately announced the tabling of a motion of censure, the probable rejection of which, expected before the end of the week, will constitute definitive adoption of this law, which promises a public deficit reduced to 2 .7% of GDP in 2027 (under the European target of 3%). Denouncing a “seventeenth 49.3” from the Borne government, to “impose a cure of austerity” on the French, the president of the group, Mathilde Panot, announced on X (formerly Twitter) the tabling of this new motion.
This public finance programming law “ensures our credibility vis-à-vis our European partners” and will make it possible to unlock “18 billion euros from the European recovery plan”, affirmed Elisabeth Borne in the letter read by Franck Riester – an argument often contested by oppositions.
Possible legal standoff
Sunday on France Inter, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, underlined “that in 2024 we will have to find at least 12 billion euros in additional savings”, thanks to a “review of public spending “. In passing, he dissociated himself from two recent measures, although negotiated by the government with the opposition: the extension of the fuel allowance to a larger number of workers, and an exceptional allowance supplementing the 2023 Christmas bonus for single-parent families. “At some point, we have to say stop, we no longer have the means,” he insisted.
The Senate, with a right-wing majority, demanded, for its part, a return below 3% two years earlier, in 2025, and a public deficit reduced to 1.7% in 2027, but was unsuccessful. .
The use of 49.3 for the public finance programming law could lead to a legal standoff with the oppositions. Excluding State and Social Security budgets, for which the use of 49.3 is unlimited, the government only has the right to use this constitutional weapon on a single text per parliamentary session.
But the executive, supported by legal opinions, assures that it is not using this cartridge for this public finance programming law, since it had already been the subject of a first 49.3 at the end in September, during an extraordinary session. The opposition could try to challenge this legal argument if the government uses 49.3 again during this ordinary session, for example in relation to the immigration bill.
