Twenty-seven deputies from the Macronist group Ensemble pour la République (EPR) oppose, in a text published by The Tribune Saturday eveningto any increase in taxes, while Prime Minister Michel Barnier plans to make those who can contribute more, “in an exceptional and temporary manner”.
“It seems to us […] unthinkable that after seven years of tax cuts it is the alliance of the central bloc which ends up giving up fiscal stability to increase them”, write Mathieu Lefèvre and Charles Rodwell, joined by former ministers Aurore Bergé and Marie Lebec, or by the former president of the group Sylvain Maillard The authors also consider it “unthinkable” to call into question the “clear course defined by the three budgetary programming laws of the Ministries of the Interior, the Army and Justice”. For them, “restoring accounts requires above all a reduction in public spending” and, to achieve this, they recommend “the cult of the performance of our public policies”, the “elimination of dozens of agencies and Théodule committees”, “the simplification of public action and the reduction in the number of civil servants while preserving our local public services”.
Arguing that “the restoration of public accounts requires above all the creation of wealth and full employment”, they call for “carrying out courageous reforms – in particular that of unemployment insurance”. And they call for continuing the “merciless fight against social and tax fraud”.
Barnier’s determination
Prime Minister Michel Barnier, noting the very degraded financial situation which he inherited, put on the table the possibility of increasing certain levies. “On the question of taxation, I said that I would protect from any tax increase those who are on the ground, who work, who produce. We are going to appeal, exceptionally and temporarily, to those who can contribute to this effort”, he declared on Friday in the Journal of Saône-et-Loire.
Interviewed Friday in West Francethe president of the MoDem group Marc Fesneau said for his part he was open to tax adjustments. “At MoDem, we are not closed to asking efforts from the richest people – really from the highest brackets – and from very large companies,” declared the former Minister of Agriculture. His group is also ready to “tackle tax loopholes, analyze rent situations and cancel planned tax cuts, such as the contribution on the added value of businesses”.