Like a dress rehearsal tune. On the evening of Thursday July 7, for his first hearing before a largely reshuffled finance committee at the National Assembly, Bruno Le Maire had to face, for nearly two hours, heavy barrages from the various opposition groups from legislative elections in June.
The Minister of the Economy presented with Gabriel Attal, the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, the amending finance bill which contains part of the 20 billion euros of measures to boost purchasing power. It will be examined the week of July 11 in committee, before a debate which promises to be difficult, from July 18 in the Hemicycle.
Without waiting, Eric Coquerel, successor to Eric Woerth (ex-Les Républicains, LR) as chairman of the commission, set the tone. “You know my remarks: before I made them at the back of the room, now I’m next to you”launched in the preamble the deputy La France insoumise of Seine-Saint-Denis, elected to this post on June 30 after a political battle with the National Rally (RN).
Some compromises
His group, as well as the other member formations of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union recalled the points that are close to their hearts: minimum wage at 1,500 euros, taxation of large companies, restoration of the solidarity tax on wealth rather than abolition of production taxes, and freezing of prices.
“We weren’t expecting much, we’re still disappointed”, for his part launched the deputy RN Jean-Philippe Tanguy, recalling the request of his group to lower the VAT on fuel, and arguing the absence of massive measures for the middle classes. For her part, Véronique Louwagie, LR, defended the principle of capping the price of a liter of gasoline at 1.50 euros and challenged the cost of 50 billion euros opposed to her by Bercy.
Mr. Le Maire still tried to show some points of compromise, especially on the subject of salary increases. “I agree with you on the minimums for branches: it is not acceptable that there are so many who are below the minimum wage. It is hopeless “he replied to Mr. Coquerel with reference to an article of the text intended to encourage branch negotiations on this point.
The Bercy tenant also reiterated the idea, already put forward at the end of the previous five-year term, of “directing tax revenues from fossil fuels towards the ecological transition”even if it means making an exception to the budgetary principle of non-assignment of taxes.
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