The Constitutional Council validated Thursday the essentials of the government’s finance law for 2023, and in particular the methods of use of article 49.3 of the constitution, attacked by certain deputies.
Bercy welcomed in a press release that “the Constitutional Council confirms the entry into force of the main provisions of the 2023 budget” including “the abolition in two years of the contribution on the added value of companies (CVAE), (…) the extension and strengthening of shields against rising energy prices for households, communities and businesses (and) the introduction of a co-payment for the personal training account (CPF)”.
Article 49.3 allows the government to pass a legislative text without a vote by incurring its responsibility. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne used this procedure ten times for the 2023 finance law, which can be used unlimitedly in budgetary matters.
The right of amendment respected
The requesting deputies had deemed it unconstitutional to engage “the responsibility of the government before the National Assembly on the vote of the first and then the second part” of the draft budget, arguing that “the constitution would require the exercise of this prerogative on the vote of the whole project”, recalls the Council in its decision. The high court found them wrong, ruling “that no constitutional requirement was disregarded during the implementation of the procedure provided for by the third paragraph of article 49 of the constitution”.
The Constitutional Council also decided that parliamentarians’ right to amend had been respected, rejecting the referral of deputies who considered that amendments had “not been dealt with” nor “entered on the agenda”.
Finally, the high court declared the 2023 budget sincere, dismissing the grievances of deputies who called into question the government’s economic forecasts on the basis of the reservations issued by the High Council of Public Finances in its opinion of 21 September. The Constitutional Council ruled in particular that the 1% growth forecast for the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 on which the budget is based is not tainted “with an intention to distort the main lines of the balance of the budget law.
Seven articles rejected
The High Court nonetheless excluded seven articles from the text on the grounds that their purpose is not of a budgetary nature. Is rejected article 82 which wanted to introduce a new article in the customs code providing that the judicial authority communicates to the customs administration any information that it collects” as well as article 98 which authorized the government to modify by ordinance “the framework applicable to the conduct of inspection operations of goods, means of transport and persons” by the same customs. Article 143 establishing a transport financing conference in Île-de-France is also censured.