Gérard Larcher wants to reduce the effort requested from the communities to 2,000 million euros

According to the president (Les Républicains, LR) of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, the budgetary effort requested from local authorities by Michel Barnier’s government to restore public accounts is too important. In an interview with sunday newspaper In a publication published on the Internet on Saturday, November 16, he estimates that it would have to be reduced to 2,000 million euros, instead of the 5,000 million anticipated by Matignon.

” He (…) missing 3 [milliards d’euros] compared to what the government planned. We will find them somewhere else.”Larcher states in this interview published a few days after the Senate took over the examination of the State and Social Security budgets in committee. “Communities represent 70% of public investment”argues, also stating that “We are not to blame for the increase in the deficit”, “It doesn’t matter [à l’ancien ministre de l’économie] Bruno Le Maire ».

If the head of government, Michel Barnier, “he took a series of steps towards the departments”, “We must also take into account the tax on the income of 450 large communities, which is often applied according to questionable criteria”assures Mr. Larcher. “The Senate Finance Committee is in the process of fundamentally remodeling these financing mechanisms to protect departments and municipalities”precise.

Opposed to an increase in electricity taxes

Mr. Larcher also objects “to preserve the purchasing power of the French”to a possible increase in electricity taxes beyond their pre-Covid level, a measure removed during debate in the National Assembly. “It seems to me that the issue is rather to establish equity between the taxation of gas and electricity”in the name of the recovery of public finances and out of ecological concern, he explains.

Asked about another sensitive measure, that relating to the reduction of exemptions from company contributions, rejected in the Bourbon Palace, Mr. Larcher considers that these exemptions should be better “framing” but what“Without a doubt, minimum wage reductions must be maintained”.

He also declares himself generally favorable to the compromise solution presented on Monday by the president of the Republican Right group in the National Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez, on the postponement of the indexation of pensions, although the measure “it deserves clarification regarding the level of “small pensions””explains.

It also welcomes the proposal of the Senate Social Affairs Commission to create a “solidarity contribution” dedicated to financing measures in favor of old age, in the form of a package of seven additional annual hours worked without remuneration for each employee.

An open door to proportionality

Larcher also confirms the upcoming inclusion of an immigration bill on the Senate agenda. “which the former president of the legal commission François-Noël Buffet had prepared and which takes up many of the amendments that had been censored by the Constitutional Council for reasons of form”. “The rules on family reunification are tightened, the crime of illegal residence is reinstated and agricultural legislation, in particular, is re-examined. This text had been voted by the previous relative majority in the National Assembly.Larcher emphasizes.

Regarding proportional representation, the workhorse of the President (Renaissance) of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, Mr. Larcher, does not completely close the door. “Proportionality cannot be achieved without reestablishing the possibility for a deputy or senator to combine their national mandate with a local executive mandate” AND “Voting must be based on departmental lists”decide.