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.