the left and the Republicans seize the Constitutional Council

Deputies from the right and the left announced that they would refer the matter to the Constitutional Council, in two separate procedures, on several points of the 2024 draft budget, definitively adopted in Parliament on Thursday, December 21. The Constitutional Council must decide before the end of 2023 so that the law can come into force on January 1.

Elected Republicans had announced an appeal upon final adoption on Thursday. They are protesting against the repeated use of the constitutional weapon of 49.3 to pass the finance bill (PLF) without a vote. “Due to the extremely early triggering of article 49 paragraph 3, (…) not a single amendment to the first part of the PLF for 2024 will have been discussed in session at the National Assembly“, denounces in its appeal the LR group, which sees in it a “infringement of the right of amendment”.

In an appeal sent on Friday, deputies from the four left-wing groups (LFI, PS, environmentalist and communist) point out the conditions imposed on the possible “extraction” toxic waste buried on the contested Stocamine site (Haut-Rhin), which they consider too restrictive. The left also denounces a tax exemption for the benefit of raw distillers, fearing a danger for public health.

MPs opposed to the “Fifa amendment”

Among other grievances, left-wing groups also denounce a measure allowing part of the Livret A and the sustainable and solidarity development booklet to be directed towards the financing of companies in the French defense industry. These deputies see it as a “legislative rider” unrelated to the finance bill.

Right and left agree on one point: the “Fifa amendment”. This very advantageous tax system which aims to attract sports federations to France. Finally, the LRs consider that a tax applicable to motorway companies presents “legal weaknesses”.