How will the support for people heating with oil be put in place?
Parliament voted this summer an envelope of 230 million euros to support the households concerned, which could not benefit from the shield put in place for other energy sources. A fuel check can be requested, from November 8, on the chequeenergie.fr website where a simulator will show who is eligible for this aid. This check can range from 100 to 200 €, depending on household income, and can be used to pay electricity bills (for those who have already filled up their tank).
Some communities are also worried about soaring energy prices?
It is out of the question to leave mayors at the mercy of astronomical bills. Municipalities with a budget of less than two million euros and less than ten employees benefit from the tariff shield, like all French people, with a regulated tariff blocked at 4% this year and limited to 15% next year. It is the medium-sized municipalities, with 10,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, which are in the most difficulty. A safety net, endowed with 430 million euros, was voted for them. Nearly 9,000 municipalities and EPCIs (public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation) will be able to benefit from it. The State will cover up to 70% of the increase in their electricity bill, or food for their canteen. They will be able to apply for a deposit next week, which will be paid to them between the end of November and December 15.
Why are some gas stations running out of fuel?
In the border areas, many of our neighbors come to buy from us. Even the Swiss. This shows that France is the country that best protects the purchasing power of its inhabitants, but it is also the limit of this rebate system. The French taxpayer is not intended to finance the full of the Belgians, the Swiss, the Spaniards or the Germans! This is the reason why we are going to leave this device.
But the economy is deteriorating and the price of oil is rising again?
The forecasts do not count on a surge in prices. We will be there to support the French if this happens, but with a device other than that of the fuel rebate, targeting the most fragile households. We have provided an envelope in the 2023 budget to cope if necessary.
This is not the only reason for the queues at the pumps…
There are also social movements in the refineries, but in the end this only concerns 15% of French stations. We can release our strategic oil stocks, as we did in the Hauts de France, and the tanker trucks will be authorized to circulate this weekend to resupply the stations. We have no stock issues. So there is no reason to panic.
All of these measures are expensive. The President of the Court of Auditors finds your budget forecasts “unrealistic”?
The government’s macroeconomic forecasts, often questioned, have always come true. We are in an uncertain environment, particularly with the war in Ukraine, but thanks to purchasing power measures and the price shield, we have managed to contain inflation more in France than elsewhere. By pursuing this policy, both to encourage economic activity and to protect the French, we should once again meet our objectives.
Will you have recourse to 49.3 for this budget, which allows the adoption of a law without a vote (1)?
The oppositions tell us themselves that we will be forced to do so. Even before we presented the budget to them, they indicated that they would vote against it. We have a relative majority, but we also have an absolute responsibility, which is to give our country a budget. We do not see the sixth world power facing 2023 with empty pockets.
It is a budget where the level of expenditure remains high.
We spend to protect the French, it’s true, but there is a big difference with whatever it costs: we will no longer get out of the public deficit target that we have set ourselves. We spent without really counting at the start of the pandemic, because the French economy, completely at a standstill, threatened to collapse. The public deficit rose to 9% of GDP in 2020. It rose to 6.5% in 2021, to 5% this year, it will stabilize at 5% next year and we will continue to restore this trajectory to return to below the 3% mark by 2027. Our expenses will grow at a rate comparable to the growth in our revenues.
Is your promise not to raise taxes realistic?
We had record corporate tax revenue this year, as we lowered corporate tax from 33% to 25%. We collect more money than at the beginning of the quinquennium because this decrease has favored economic development. The more tax is reduced, particularly on labor and businesses, the more economic activity is developed, which allows for additional revenue. This is the logic we are following with the pension reform.
Can the pension reform be used to finance something other than pensions?
Indirectly, yes. The reform itself will result in 8 billion euros in gross savings by 2027, which will ensure the balance of the system. But, as I have just told you, having more people at work will generate additional tax and social security revenues. Between 15 and 20 billion by the end of the five-year period according to the General Directorate of the Treasury, in particular thanks to the creation of 400,000 new jobs. This money will make it possible to finance priorities on ecological transition, education, security, etc.
(1) Unless a motion of censure is passed within 24 hours.