09:22 – No expansion of income tax
The income tax scale should not be impacted. Traditionally raised each year to take into account inflation, Michel Barnier and Bercy should decide not to touch it. In 2024, this scale was increased by 2%, i.e. the estimated level of inflation, the mechanics should therefore, barring any surprises, be the same for next year. The objective: not to tax “low-income people” nor “the middle classes” more.
08:47 – In the event of “very harsh migration text”, the MoDem threatens to leave the government
Already put under pressure by the National Rally, Michel Barnier must also face current events, and the murder of Philippine in the Bois de Boulogne with a main suspect under OQTF, which revives the debate on the French judicial system and control of immigration. Themes that should be addressed during the Prime Minister’s general policy speech. On Wednesday, in its tax niche planned for the end of October, the RN planned to relax the conditions for expulsion of foreigners and to introduce fixed penalties for certain offenses. “I don’t see how the government could oppose it,” declared the RN deputy for the Somme Jean-Philippe Tanguy.
If Michel Barnier decides to give pledges to the right, he will also have to temper so as not to lose certain elements of the central bloc: “We will be vigilant, because if we are told that we need a very tough new migration text, that we offers us a policy that is too right-wing, then we will have nothing more to do in this government”, warns Erwan Balanant, MoDem deputy from Finistère in the columns of 20Minutes, worried after the latest contested declarations of the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau last week, from the same political family as Michel Barnier, LR.
08:30 – The Macronists do not want to break “fiscal confidence”
A balancing act for Michel Barnier. The theme of taxes will be hot this Tuesday during the Prime Minister’s general policy speech. Much anticipated on the issue, the new tenant of Matignon must try to satisfy all the trends of the central block. The right wing has already ordered Michel Barnier not to increase taxes, and Gabriel Attal’s entourage is demanding a “clarification” as France Info points out this Monday. The 27 Macronist deputies do not want to break the “fiscal trust” that they have tried to build for several years with the French, and “painfully won” since 2017, as EPR deputy Mathieu Lefèvre recalled this Sunday. “The first people to reassure are not Marine le Pen, it’s not the National Rally, it’s us,” insisted a deputy in the columns of France Info.
08:21 – A tax increase? “The signal would be devastating”
While Prime Minister Michel Barnier suggested last Friday the possibility of a tax increase for “those who can contribute to this effort”, the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) deputy for Val-de-Marne, Mathieu Lefèvre, judge this morning on TF1 sees this idea as a bad signal: “The signal would be bad, devastating (…) There are other ways, other possibilities to reduce public deficits”, he declared in the morning Good morning!.
08:13 – What does general policy speech consist of?
Michel Barnier will deliver his general policy speech to Parliament on Tuesday, October 1. Under the Fifth Republic, the Prime Minister sets out the main directions of his program, the main reforms and measures he wishes to put in place. Which also allows him to reassure about his ability to govern. Various themes can be addressed such as immigration, education, the economy, security, or even foreign policy, depending on the issues of the moment. The DPG can also be an opportunity for the Prime Minister to announce new laws or important reforms.