How to find three billion euros? Twenty parliamentarians from the majority have an idea. They want to table an amendment to remove a reduction in contributions on wages between 2.5 and 3.5 times the minimum wage. It is a reduction in charges resulting from François Hollande’s “responsibility pact” which allows companies to pay less charges on salaries between 48,000 and 67,000 euros per year.
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An exemption that costs 3 billion euros each year. A sum that these deputies would like to see back in the coffers of the State, especially since a note from the Economic Analysis Council of 2019 affirms that this exemption does not create jobs. It would therefore be money wasted for nothing.
At the Ministry of the Economy, we contest this study and denounce a bad signal sent to the economic world. “Our logic is to lower taxes, not to increase charges”, responds an adviser to Bercy. The fact that this proposal comes from the majority is also particularly irritating: “We have to stop the delirium, it would be worse than the tax on excess profits”, annoys a close friend of Bruno Le Maire…
If Bercy refuses, is the story over? The answer is no. It would have been true during Macron’s first five-year term, when the LREM deputies did not flinch. At the time when there were so many of them that losing a few votes was not a problem. Today, with a relative majority, everything is different and the left wing of macronie wants symbols. That’s why they don’t give up.
Strategically, these deputies hope that their amendment will be taken up by the government, even in the event of the adoption of the budget by a 49-3. So behind the scenes, they work, discuss in particular with the executive. A note was delivered directly to the Prime Minister. To soften the proposal, some imagine spreading the measure over time. What is interesting is also to know who is behind this text: the main author is the macronist Sacha Houlié, president of the prestigious Law Commission. We find co-signer Marc Ferracci, economic adviser to Emmanuel Macron since 2017, very respected on social issues.
More surprisingly, there is also the deputy Claire Guichard who is none other than the deputy of the budget minister Gabriel Attal. A shame when you know that Bercy refuses this text. But whether it passes or not, this amendment is a message sent directly to the executive: the period of docile Macronist deputies is over.