“Novice in public finances.” This is how Laurent Saint-Martin described himself, when he arrived in 2017 at the National Assembly, after his election, under the LREM label, in the third constituency of Val-de-Marne. Despite his lack of experience, he is heading towards the Finance Committee to become vice-president. “A word, perhaps, to explain this choice, which, at first glance, may seem surprising. The technical refinements of public finances are certainly new things for me, but I am fully aware of the democratic stakes that represents the budget”, he wrote in 2020 in his book The Tax Factory. For citizen consent (Alma Editor). He will then be elected general rapporteur of this same commission, one of the most coveted positions at the Palais-Bourbon.
Seven years later, here he is now Minister of Budget and Public Accounts, in the very young Barnier government. A dive into the deep end. “In 2017, he fell very quickly into this difficult subject. He has an immense capacity for absorption,” praises his former chief of staff, Florence Grognard. And undoubtedly more than any other of his predecessors, he is preparing to experience an intense baptism of fire, linked to the examination of the finance bill. A budget concocted in a hurry and under pressure.
Next year, Bercy will have to find 60 billion euros in savings to reduce the public deficit to 5% of GDP. Otherwise, if nothing is done, it could exceed 7%, more than in 2021, the year of Covid. “It’s a major challenge. I’m ready to take it on, we’re going to spend days and nights there,” Laurent Saint-Martin assures L’Express.
Michel Barnier clarified in his general policy declaration, two thirds of the effort will come from reducing public spending. The rest, greater efficiency in the management of the State and “temporary and targeted” tax increases. An objective to say the least ambitious, while the expenditure of public administrations – State, communities and Social Security – has never decreased in the space of forty years. “Many people talk about reducing expenses, but do not have the courage to do it,” points out Laurent Saint-Martin.
A man of compromise
For this, the new minister has his recipe: “the principle of truth”. “We must explain why we need to reduce public spending. And we will not do it by imposing, but by dialogue. By trying to understand the areas where spending has been allowed to slip away. It’s a painstaking job “To avoid making indiscriminate blows, you have to look line by line. It is indeed a work of collective intelligence,” he explains.
A masterful exercise that Laurent Saint-Martin intends to experiment with. “The common thread is not to break the tools of growth and to maintain attractiveness. I have adopted this method at Business France and I intend to implement it at Bercy.” The state operator, which helps companies export and of which he was general director for more than a year and a half, has a good record. “This structure is well managed. In terms of the efficiency of public money, it is an example,” assures Senator (LR) Alain Chatillon, member of the board of directors of Business France.
The mission promises to be all the more perilous as this Edhec graduate, once part of the Socialist Party and beaten by Louis Boyard (LFI) in the 2022 legislative elections, will have to deal with a National Assembly that is more fragmented than ever. “I am not naive about the political complexity. There is a path to find,” Laurent Saint-Martin wants to believe.
His previous mandate can help him there. “He knows the mechanics of parliamentary debates well. He has shown in the past that he is capable of speaking to all groups. This will be essential for navigating the budgetary calendar,” judges a former colleague from the Finance Committee. “When he was rapporteur, he was keen to find compromises with the oppositions. This approach was quite natural for him”, adds the deputy (Renaissance) Daniel Labaronne. In 2020, Laurent Saint-Martin concluded his book with this premonitory sentence: “If we let things persist, the disease in our public finances will reach an incurable stage.” A chronic pathology for which he will have to find a cure. And quickly.
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