local authorities refuse to see their resources cut

Representatives of regions, departments, municipalities and intermunicipalities were received on Tuesday in Bercy to discuss possible savings in their 2025 budgets.

“We have already given generously.” Local authorities informed the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, Tuesday April 9, of their opposition to seeing their resources diminish to help the government maintain its path of reducing the deficit. Representatives of regions, departments, municipalities and intermunicipalities were received in Bercy to discuss possible savings in their 2025 budgets, all in an atmosphere “courteous” but “which did not advance essential issues”André Laignel (PS), president of the Local Finance Committee, declared to the press.

For France’s deficit to fall below 3% of GDP by 2027, the government has estimated that around 20 billion euros in savings will have to be made in 2025. Unlike the 10 billion in savings in 2024 , these cuts will also concern social spending and that of local authorities.

According to André Laignel, Bruno Le Maire asked communities to reduce their operating expenses by 0.5% per year in volume: an objective of the public finance programming law 2023-2027, which the minister would now like to be imperative. Bruno Le Maire should transmit to communities “a proposed work schedule” and propose a new meeting “within two months”, said several participants of this meeting.

“There is no question of stigmatizing local communities”

“Under no circumstances can we take action” the reduction of operating expenses, protested André Laignel. This would represent, according to the latter, a “15 billion euro drain” over five years, i.e. a sum “considerable” And “totally out of reach”, “taking into account the obvious difficulties of local authorities”. Local authorities have already seen their resources decline in recent years, through the elimination of local taxes decided by the government, but also the reduction in their overall operating allocation.

As for the departments, the same observation: cutting back on their operating expenses, “I honestly think it’s impossible”, Jean-Léonce Dupont, centrist president of the Calvados departmental council, told AFP. According to him, this objective of -0.5% has also not “any sense”, in a context where “70% of departmental operating expenses cannot be controlled”.

No concrete avenues for savings have been “been sketched”, for her part regretted Carole Delga (PS), president of the Régions de France association. The regions are “ready to work” with the government on “the proper use of public money”, but “there is no question of stigmatizing local communities”who would be criticized for being “spendthrifts”, according to her.