French government unveils unprecedented public spending cuts and tax hikes for 2025
The draft budget plan will be under intense scrutiny by the EU Commission after Brussels formally warned France of its excessive budget deficit back in June.
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00:00The French government unveiled its draft budget plan for 2025 in Paris on Thursday and it's
00:13quite a touchy subject considering that France's public deficit is expected to reach more than
00:18six percent of its GDP by the end of the year.
00:22That's higher than almost all other EU countries and the government's goal is to slash 60 billion
00:27euros in 2025 alone.
00:30That's two percent of its GDP.
00:32It's quite an unprecedented amount.
00:34And to do this, the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, announced an eye-watering
00:4040 billion euros in public spending cuts that will cover pretty much all ministries.
00:45So it's quite an unpopular measure among his own government.
00:49And local territories will also be asked to cut more than five billion euros, which has
00:53caused quite an uproar among France's mayors.
00:57And the rest of the 20 billion euros will come through exceptional and temporary tax
01:02hikes that will concern the wealthiest incomes and also the highest-earning corporations.
01:08And the budget plan will also face intense scrutiny from the EU Commission that formally
01:13warned France back in June of its excessive public spending.
01:19And although the government claimed it's open to debate, well, the current fragmented political
01:24landscape could push Prime Minister Michel Barnier to adopt the text without a vote using
01:29the controversial Article 49.3 of the French Constitution.
01:33Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.