Campaign promise in the face of galloping inflation, the bill on purchasing power and its support measures arrive Monday, July 18 in the Chamber of the National Assembly, where the opposition will storm aid proposals new.
The twenty article bill “carrying out emergency measures for the protection of purchasing power” passes first reading until Thursday July 21, with more than a thousand amendments to the key. MEPs will continue with the examination of the draft amending budget for 2022, which should make it possible to finance and complete these measures.
Among the main ones are the early increases of 4% of retirement pensions and social benefits, the 3.5% increase in the salaries of civil servants, a means-tested food check of 100 euros, to which will be added 50 euros per child. There is also the extension of the discount of 18 cents on fuel and the tariff shield on energy, the abolition of the audiovisual license fee or the tripling of the Macron bonus (tax-free and exempt from social security contributions).
Mobilisation
The final adoption, after a shuttle with the Senate, is scheduled for August 7, if the government’s plan goes as planned. Because, for lack of an absolute majority, the game promises to be difficult for the macronists if they want to keep the “balances” financiers.
“All weekend, the phones heated up all over the place, we consulted on the left, we consulted on the right (…)I am convinced that we will find a good agreement for the French.said Olivier Véran, the government spokesman, on France 2 Monday morning.
“No group, no political party, no MP has an interest in saying, at the end of the week, that this text is not adopted, because if it is not adopted, that means that the power French people’s purchases will not be protected”warned Aurore Bergé, the president of the Renaissance group (ex-La République en Marche) in the National Assembly, on BFM-TV.
During the past week, the government suffered a first setback on the health bill, amputated from a key article on the possible return of the health pass for entries into France, as part of the fight against the pandemic. of Covid-19. It’s time for mobilization on the majority side on this text “the most anticipated of the French” and high stakes in presidential and legislative campaigns.
“Logic that we reject”
Faced with high inflation (5.8% over one year in June), the Republican deputies are pushing in particular for the “lower fuel price to 1.5 euros per liter” ; those of the RN, for the reduction of VAT on energy prices. The left-wing alliance New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) will decline in amendments its own text “social emergency” with an increase in the minimum wage to 1,500 euros or the taxation of « superprofits » large groups.
The president of the group La France insoumise in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, judged the text on Monday ” dangerous “because, according to her, he “acts the refusal to raise wages, (…) the refusal to dig into the private treasury, and prefers to dig into the public treasury to stuff the private treasury”.
Invited on the LCI set on Monday, Manuel Bompard, LFI deputy, accused the government of not having done “no step” in the direction of his political group when the texts are examined in committee. “The government rejects all of our proposals, it rejects the fact of involving the profiteers of the crisis, it rejects the fact of increasing taxation for the richest, it rejects the idea of raising wages, it rejects the idea of locking in prices on a number of basic necessities. For the moment, he does not take any of these steps.he pointed.
“I am not saying that everything is to be thrown away, I am saying that the political logic underlying this text is a logic that we rejecthe said. For the rest, in this text, there are things which are extremely serious and which are presented as extremely positive things for the French. When rent increases are capped at 3.5% (…) for an average rent of 700 euros, this means that you will lose 300 euros in purchasing power over the yearexplains the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône. You can call it “law to increase purchasing power” if you want, but in the end it’s a law that will result in a decrease in purchasing power. So it’s not true, it’s false advertising. »
“I would like to know what compromises the authorities are ready for”for his part, questioned Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist Party on Europe 1, who warned that he would not be satisfied with“approve copy” of the government.
“Financial madness”
No “demagoguery” but of “serious budget”had warned the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, in his July 14 interview, wanting to believe in “the spirit of responsibility of the political forces in the Assembly”.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, castigated Monday, on RTL, the “financial madness” opposition, with their 100 billion euros of proposals, while the salvo of aid discussed this week is estimated at around twenty billion euros and that the guardians of public finances like the Court of Auditors are already ticking.
However, he reached out to the Republicans, saying he was open to further tax exemption for overtime – as voted in committee – and to broaden the compensation for those who use their vehicle to go to work.
“We will see, we will watch, the debate opens this afternoon, replied the deputy of the National Rally Sébastien Chenu, on the set of RMC, Monday, to the question of whether the National Rally was going to vote in favor of the bill on purchasing power. ” This is an extremely important text. We have already lost a lot of time. Since the election of Emmanuel Macron, nothing has been done for the purchasing power of the French”however, lamented the RN deputy from the North.