In France, the 2025 Budget exposes the disagreements within the coalition government. In the space of two days, two Macronist ministers expressed their skepticism towards Michel Barnier’s budgetary course on one point in particular. With the hope of obtaining a gain, like the Republican right before them.
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This Friday, November 22, on RMC, it was the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher who took the stand on the Budget: “What we need to look at is overall taxation on businesses. And we are particularly vigilant at EPR [Ensemble pour la République, NLDR] and with Gabriel Attal, to say, “pay attention to load reductions” . These are complicated debates, we do it within a coalition, but I am confident that we will find a good point of balance.»
Second minister who openly puts pressure on Barnier even though he had until now been rather neutral: Antoine Armand. In a newspaper interviewThe Parisianthe Minister of the Economy states: “On the cost of labor, the EPR group and Gabriel Attal are right to say that we must go as far as possible to preserve contribution reductions. Beware of excess tax!»
And Antoine Armand gave another layer on Thursday, November 21: we must not “banish those who create growth“, he said. Even if he is a minister of Michel Barnier, Antoine Armand still wants to defend the line of his own group.
Obtain a gain, like the Republican right
This desire is all the more marked as the right-wing camp prides itself on having recently obtained a political victory. The leader of the Republican right Laurent Wauquiez obtained a budgetary concession from Michel Barnier regarding retirees.
Will Michel Barnier now also give up on the Macronists? We will perhaps know more on Monday: the head of government receives the presidents of parliamentary groups of the National Assembly.