Faced with the controversy, the Elysée, the Assembly and the Senate backtrack. They announced Tuesday that they will not request an increase in their allocation for 2025.
In the 2025 budget project presented by the government on Thursday, the latter provides for an increase in appropriations for the Elysée, the National Assembly and the Senate, while the government also asks for “efforts” from some sectors of activity and administrations, in consideration of the deterioration of the public finances situation.
At a time when “the government has announced numerous savings”, “the Head of State wants the Presidency of the Republic to set an example”, added the Elysée in a press release. Presidency appropriations are expected to increase from 122.6 million euros to 125.7 million, an increase higher than the overall price increase foreseen for 2025 by the draft budget (average inflation of 1.8%). The savings proposed by the presidency will therefore be around three million euros for the state budget.
The National Assembly and the Senate are also making a budgetary effort
The two houses of Parliament also announced a budgetary effort through a press release from their presidents Yaël Braun-Pivet (Assembly) and Gérard Larcher (Senate): both the National Assembly and the Senate will propose during the autumn budget discussions to give up to the indexation of the Parliament’s distribution to the inflation rate. “It is normal and essential that the two assemblies participate in the effort required of everyone to restore the public finances of our country”, assure the presidents of the two Chambers.
In recent months, these had approved the increase in their allocation by 1.7% for 2025, bringing it to approximately 618 million euros for the National Assembly and 359 million for the Senate. This decision – which will still have to be adopted by Parliament when examining the finance bill for 2025 – will therefore allow savings of approximately 16 million euros cumulatively for the two assemblies.
At the end of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday at noon, government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon assured that the freezing of these appropriations is “part of a global effort”. “All ministries will be involved (…) It seems normal to me, on a personal level, that everyone can do their part. It is a decision that will be welcomed by our fellow citizens,” he said.
“I understand this raises questions”
The increase in the appropriations of the Presidency and Parliament has raised many questions in recent days, in a context of profound deterioration of France’s budgetary situation, and while efforts will be required from the government from different sectors of activity and administrations.
“I understand that this raises questions and that debate exists about this,” Public Accounts Minister Laurent Saint-Martin noted on TF1 on Saturday. “Now the French also need solid institutions, they also need representatives who know how to do their job well. If Parliament decides otherwise, it is sovereign,” he added.
After a good year in 2022, the Elysée had exceeded its endowment by 8.3 million euros in 2023, with 125.5 million in expenses requiring a cash withdrawal. The Court of Auditors specifically called on the Presidency to undertake “significant efforts from 2024 to restore and sustain (its) financial balance”.
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