Overview
- On Thursday the finance ministry detailed a €6.2 billion plan made of a €3.2 billion ‘surgel’ or temporary freeze of budget credits, €847 million of targeted cancellations mostly from the state’s réserve de précaution, and €2.2 billion from freezing payroll tax relief on low wages.
- Bercy drafted two decrees that it sent to parliamentary finance committees for a seven‑day opinion, including a ‘décret d’avance’ that cancels €407 million and reopens €407 million to fund measures such as extra chèque‑énergie payments and a ‘gros rouleur’ indemnity.
- The largest item, the roughly €3.2 billion surgel, remains imprecisely detailed despite being worked on “with each ministry,” which leaves scope for credits to be unfrozen or reallocated later in the year.
- The ministries of the Armed Forces and Justice are exempted from cancellations, the Outre‑mer had an earlier freeze, and the ministry says it does not plan to revise the 2026 growth forecast or abandon the 5% deficit objective at this stage.
- Critics in parliament called the moves late and unclear, and a second comité d’alerte is scheduled for the end of June that could prompt additional savings or adjustments and affect how those temporary freezes are applied in practice.