There cannot be a referendum on “superprofits”. The Nupes project to tax the “superprofits” of companies “does not meet the conditions” set to be the subject of a referendum of shared initiative, the Constitutional Council ruled on Tuesday.
The bill signed by 242 parliamentarians from the left alliance (LFI, PS, PCF and EELV) “on the creation of an additional contribution on the exceptional profits of large companies does not meet the constitutional and organic conditions” provided for, have estimated the Sages in a press release.
“The Constitutional Council judges that (the proposal) does not therefore relate, within the meaning of Article 11 of the Constitution, to a reform relating to the economic policy of the nation”, he justifies in his press release, “regarding that this bill thus has the sole effect of supplementing the State budget by the introduction until 31 December 2025 of a measure which is limited to increasing the level of the existing taxation of the profits of certain companies “.
A text presented in September
Article 11 of the Constitution, which lays down the conditions for the organization of a referendum on a shared initiative, explains that only bills “relating to the organization of public powers, to reforms relating to the economic, social or environmental policy of the nation and to the public services which contribute thereto, or tending to authorize the ratification of a treaty which, without being contrary to the Constitution, would have repercussions on the functioning of the institutions”.
The left-wing Nupes coalition presented a bill in September to tax the “superprofits” of big business and try to obtain a shared initiative referendum. In the event of a green light from the Constitutional Council within a month, the Nupes bill should have obtained nearly five million citizen signatures in nine months to trigger a referendum.