The special law to avoid administrative paralysis is being examined this Wednesday in the Council of Ministers and must be tabled before December 19.
This Wednesday, a final Council of Ministers around the resigning team takes place at the Élysée. On the program, in particular: the examination of a “special law” to maintain the State’s tax revenues and ensure its operation until the vote of a next budget, in 2025. This special law will then be examined on Monday, December 16 in the National Assembly, then on Wednesday December 18 in the Senate, before being tabled – at the latest – on Thursday December 19 by the resigning government, or a new team if it is appointed by then.
The special law is now “ready”, indicated this Monday the resigning Minister of the Budget Laurent Saint Martin on TF1. “I have been at work for five days since the censorship of this government to prepare this special law,” he declared. Be careful, she won’t be able to “not index the income tax and its scale to inflation”, the minister made clear, evoking a constitutional impossibility. As a reminder, the use of this “special law” follows the motion of censure which was passed by the absolute majority of deputies, and more (331 elected), Wednesday December 4, against the Barnier government.
A special law “to allow the country to invest as planned”
The option chosen by the government is therefore the use of article 45 of the organic law relating to finance laws (LOLF). It allows the country to operate without a voted budget. This “joker” is based on a “special bill authorizing it to collect existing taxes”, until the vote on a next finance bill at the start of next year. In other words, by continuing to apply the 2024 budget.
While the resigning government has not managed to pass a budget, it can table a special bill before December 19, 2024, this is the deadline which is now set. Through this process, Emmanuel Macron intends to “ensure the continuity of public services and the life of the country”, he declared on Thursday December 5. Second deadline: January 1, 2025. In fact, for this special bill to come into force, it must be promulgated before the start of 2025 by the Head of State.
The proposed text should be relatively summary, with an article of law authorizing “the State to collect existing taxes”. Emmanuel Macron recalled this on December 5, “it is necessary to have this budget at the very beginning of next year to allow the country to invest as planned. For our armies, our justice, our law enforcement , to help our farmers in difficulty”. Each chamber (National Assembly and Senate) will vote once for this special law, there will be no double reading. Once appointed, the new government team will take over with the proposal of a new budget, debated from January 2025.
Article 16: last resort and “full powers” for Macron
Please note, if the special law is not adopted, one option remains on the table beyond January 1, and not the least:article 16 of the Constitution giving Emmanuel Macron “full powers”, in theory, to impose his own budgetary decisions by decree. So, in fact, France could find itself completely without a budget in 2025.
“When the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of its territory or the execution of its international commitments are threatened in a serious and immediate manner and the regular functioning of constitutional public powers is interrupted, the President of the Republic takes the measures required by these circumstances”, specifies the Constitution.
To do this, the Head of State must consult his Prime Minister, the Presidents of the Assemblies as well as the Constitutional Council.The National Assembly cannot be dissolved during the exercise of exceptional powers. The question is therefore whether or not the absence of a budget constitutes an important enough reason to draw out article 16. “It could be considered that the conditions are met for article 16 of the Constitution to be triggered”, judged the constitutionalist Benjamin Morel on December 5 in the columns of Ouest France.
Conversely,“if the answer to censorship is article 16. We have to worry about our democracy,” worriesThibaud Mulier, lecturer in public law at the University of Paris Nanterre for Public Senate. “This is a hypothesis which is, at this stage, completely far-fetched (…) To date, the public authorities operate regularly. France has a budget until December 31. And between now and then, a lot of things can happen,” aboundsJean-Philippe Derosier, constitutional expert and professor of public law at the University of Lille, still for Public Senate.
“There is absolutely no risk of a shutdown” in the American style
“If you don’t have a budget for next year, that means that civil servants are not paid,” said the former Prime Minister and now Calvados MP, Elisabeth Borne, on the C to You, last October 24 during the promotion of his book. A notable release, which recalls a practice rather associated with the United States. Indeed, this situation is possible on the other side of the Atlantic. It is called “shut down” and consists of closing administrations if the American Congress does not agree on the vote on a budget. However, in France, the operation is not the same.
To get there, the text would have to be definitively rejected by both chambers of Parliament: the National Assembly and the Senate, at the same stage of the process, and during the same reading, which is very rare. Also, the Constitutional Council should validate a special bill which would allow the executive to collect taxes and pay a minimum volume of credits. Ordinances could then make it possible to ensure the payment of civil servants’ remuneration. “There is absolutely no risk of a shutdown. There will be vital cards that will work, civil servants will be paid. We must get out of apocalyptic scenarios,” indicated Benjamin Morel, constitutional expert and lecturer in public law, in the columns of Europe 1, Monday December 2.