Posted Dec 29 2022 at 06:16 PMUpdated Dec 29. 2022 at 06:31 PM
Good news for the government. The Constitutional Council validated this Thursday the budget for 2023, its “sincere” character as well as the adoption procedure. In doing so, the Elders dismissed the grievances formulated by the LR and Nupes groups, which had seized it on December 19, through two appeals.
The budgetary marathon having been marked, for the first time, by the repeated use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution – which allows the executive to have the text adopted without a vote and to shorten the debates -, the question of the procedure was naturally raised by the objections. The applicant deputies had considered 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 impose the exercise of this prerogative on the vote of the entire project,” notes the Council in its decision.
In response, he indicates “that no constitutional requirement was disregarded during the implementation of the procedure provided for in the third paragraph of Article 49 of the Constitution”. The Constitutional Council also dismisses criticism of the non-respect of the right of amendment.
customs code
The Sages nevertheless challenged seven articles, believing that they have no place in a finance law and are therefore “riders”. Among the provisions rejected, that which empowered the government to modify by order one of the pillars of the customs code, namely article 60 on the right of access. In force since 1948, this article gives customs officers very wide latitude to carry out searches.
In September, seized by the lawyer of a motorist, the Constitutional Council ruled that the right of access should be better framed. He gave Bercy a year to review the rules. The executive will therefore have to find an alternative to the ordinance to modify this problematic article.
The Elders also rejected from the Finance Act an article aimed at improving the transmission of information from the judicial authority to customs.
Tax niche
The controversial article around the tax loophole for companies that set up reinsurance subsidiaries – which the Minister for the Economy had himself promised not to keep but which nevertheless appears in the final text – was not challenged by the high court. Seized by the deputies of the Nupes, the latter judged that the adoption procedure was regular.
Criticisms from the left concerning the allocation of lottery game revenue to finance the French Office for Biodiversity have not been heard either. “These provisions (…) were criticized for giving lottery games a positive image likely to encourage addictive practices”, notes the Constitutional Council. He considers that “the legislator has not infringed the principle of safeguarding the dignity of the human person or Article 6 of the Environmental Charter”.
The article aimed at creating a charge for users of the personal training account (CPF), which caused an outcry even in the majority, was also deemed to be in conformity. “These provisions, which directly affect the budgetary expenditure of the year and subsequent years, find their place in a finance law and have been adopted according to a procedure in accordance with the Constitution”, indicate the Wise Men.