Pierre Moscovici no longer believes it. The president of the High Council of Public Finances (HCFP), also president of the Court of Auditors, was supposed to receive, in principle, this Friday, September 13, the draft state budget for 2025 drawn up by the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. This was the date set for weeks as the deadline for then respecting the entire budgetary schedule. But “not today”, The text will not reach the HCFP, assures Pierre Moscovici’s entourage in World. Adding: “And that is the only thing that is clear…”
Matignon, for his part, does not want to make any commitments. “All teams are working on this issue”says simply an advisor to Michel Barnier.
In the long process that must lead to the adoption of a budget for the following year before the end of each year, the transmission of the draft finance law to the HCFP is a key step. This is the moment when, after having put the finishing touches to its text, the government leaves it and begins to subject it to external scrutiny. The HCFP then has seven days to issue its opinion. The text must also be examined by the lawyers of the Council of State. In total, “It takes at least twelve or thirteen days” between the referral to these experts and the next step, the examination of the project by the Council of Ministers. Then comes the presentation of the text to the table of the National Assembly, an appointment established by law in “first Tuesday in October” at the latest.
In the initial retroplanning, the budget was to be sent to the HCFP on September 13, to be discussed in the Council of Ministers on September 25, before being presented to the Assembly on the last Wednesday before the “first Tuesday in October” fateful, which falls this year on the 1stAhem October. But the dissolution and then the postponement of Emmanuel Macron shook everything up.
Barnier between two fires
On arriving at Matignon, Michel Barnier found on his desk a draft budget: rather minimalist, drawn up by Bercy and touched up by Gabriel Attal before his departure. However, the Prime Minister certainly wants to put his own stamp on this heavy text, and “take into account ongoing consultations to finalize the budget”speculates an official familiar with the matter.
Pierre Moscovici himself encouraged Michel Barnier not to send him a simple “skeleton” which would then be modified in Parliament, but a really detailed project. “And if it takes a few more days, it is possible”declared to the Parisian since September 8. Bercy’s announcement on September 2 of a new slip-up in public finances can only encourage Matignon to tighten the initial model, reducing expenditure or seeking new revenue.
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