2023-09-27 13:10:44
Credits for the army, police and justice will increase by nearly 5 billion euros in 2024, forecasts the state budget presented on Wednesday, including more than 3 billion for Defense. That for National Education, first in the State, is up by 3.9 billion euros (+ 6.5%).
This budget aims to respond to the “three challenges” of reducing France’s debt, the fight against inflation and the investments required for the ecological transition, said Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Wednesday. “We must (…) manage our public finances by meeting these three challenges,” Bruno Le Maire declared to the press before the presentation of the next budget to the Council of Ministers, referring to “an inflationary context which blurs all the benchmarks”.
8,300 additional civil servants
In detail, the ecological transition gains an additional 7 billion euros as planned. The Justice budget 500 million, and that of the Interior one billion. The school education budget will also increase by 3.9 billion euros, making it possible in particular to implement the general revaluation of teachers’ salaries. It reached 63.6 billion euros, a “historic” budget, commented the Minister of Education Gabriel Attal.
The State will gain nearly 8,300 civil servants in 2024, indicates Bercy, including 2,681 for the Ministry of the Interior and 1,961 for that of Justice. These increases are, however, lower than those of last year. On the other hand, the Ecological Transition workforce will increase by 732 jobs in 2024, instead of 45 in 2023. The Army workforce will increase by 580 jobs.
16 billion in savings
Some 16 billion in savings are also planned for next year. Most of the savings will come from the gradual elimination of exceptional measures to reduce the electricity bill of households and businesses (around 14.5 billion euros). To this will be added reductions in aid for employment policy (1 billion), 700 million from the unemployment insurance reform, the postponement of part of the reduction in production taxes (CVAE) for businesses, the removal of the tax advantage for non-road diesel or the increase in the penalty on polluting vehicles.
In total, state spending will increase from 496 to 491 billion euros, excluding debt charges. The objective is to reduce the deficit from 4.9% of GDP this year to 4.4% in 2024 – a figure tackled as “optimistic” by the High Council of Public Finances then to 2.7% in 2027, under the European limit of 3%.
A new tax on highways
The government also plans to introduce a new tax on motorway concessions and large airports in 2024 which should bring in 600 million euros annually. “These are polluting transport infrastructures, whether road or air,” declared Bruno Le Maire. However, “the best funding” for the “extremely high” and “imperative” investments necessary for ecological transition “is to ensure that those who pollute more contribute more,” he insisted.
“An increase in taxes is inevitably an increase in toll rates,” however, warned the president of Vinci Autoroutes, Pierre Coppey, on Wednesday after the announcement. “We set the toll rates,” the minister recalled during the report.
This budget must now be studied and voted on in parliament. The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire called on the presidential majority on Wednesday to show “responsibility”, a year after the heated debates provoked by a MoDem amendment on the taxation of “superprofits”.
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