“It is not up to local authorities to compensate for this mismanagement,” warns the vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF)

André Laignel, vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), reacted on Friday to the possibility that local authorities would participate in the effort to reduce the state deficit.

“It is not up to local authorities to compensate for this mismanagement”, estimated Friday March 29 on franceinfo André Laignel, vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), while budget cuts could be made to local authorities. The government is seeking to make 10 billion savings to deal with the state deficit. “We are all in this together”declared Thursday Gabriel Attal during current affairs questions to the government in the Senate.

“It is not by weakening ourselves, by impoverishing ourselves, that we will resolve France’s financial problems”reacted André Laignel who is also mayor of Issoudun (Indre). “It does not seem logical to me, when the State manages poorly, that it is the local authorities which manage better, which become the adjustment variable and the State subcontractors”, he added. By reducing the budget of local authorities, “community investment, which represents 70% of civil public investments in our country, will be called into question”he explains. “We are going to contribute to a decline in the national economy when, on the contrary, we can be a lever”he said.

“We are the social shield on the ground”

André Laignel warns the government: “We are the social shield, the social shock absorber on the ground. The municipalities are essential to civil peace in our country when we know the difficulties, the powder keg that our country is today. Wanting to weaken this capacity to respond to expectations of our fellow citizens, to consolidate our local public services, this would be an absolute contradiction”he estimated.

The governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, called for “a collective effort” of the State, local authorities during a speech Thursday at Paris-Dauphine University. “That there is pressure is indisputable, but it is totally unfounded”, according to André Laignel. He recalled that communities must vote for a balanced budget and that, moreover, from 2014 to 2024, their contributions “in constant euros, it’s more than 70 billion. I believe we have done our duty. Today, if the State has been inconsistent, it is up to the State to find the solutions”he explained.

“In 2022, we will generate 4.8 billion euros of positive”

André Laignel is all the more concerned as INSEE forecasts a deficit for local authorities in 2023: “Which has not happened for years and years. In 2022, we will see a positive 4.8 billion euros. On the contrary, we are helping France to be less sluggish with the deficit”he said.

The mayor accuses the government: “This is the result of budgetary insincerity. No one will make me believe that in December, Bercy did not know that there were major difficulties for the state budget”. After voting with a 49.3, “They tell us that we are already taking back 10 billion from you. It’s not reasonable, it’s bad management”he said.