Extract
[...] Enhanced powers of the executive > The executive power benefits from the monopoly on the initial, corrective, and end-of-management budget law project Rationalisation Article 40 Financial unconstitutionality, allows to prevent any amendment that would lower a revenue or worsen a charge Use of 49-3 - Ban on ministers attending debates and votes in committee - Priority of inscription to the agenda of the finance bill project - Discussion on text transmitted by government or other chamber (not commission) - Procedure of the 'legislative time' scheduled, not applicable to finance laws IV. [...]
[...] General Presentation of the Finance Law > As it has been specified: Finance Law, two distinct parts Numerous annexed documents : - Annual Performance Plans (APP) (or "blue" budgetary plans) - The informative annexes (or "yellow" budgetary)" - The transversal policy documents, of orange color, present in detail certain policies relevant to several ministries - The annex referred to as Means and Ways Retraces the entire evaluations and receipts of the State and fiscal expenditures - Local Finance Report - Budgetary Documents - In accordance with the 2008 Constitution review annex presenting the entire prior evaluations of the measures that constitute the equivalent of the impact studies of non-financial bill projects > Mandatory domains of the finance law: - The authorization granted by the parliament for the collection of state resources and all types of impositions assigned to legal entities other than the state - The evaluation of each of the revenues - The fixation of the expenditure ceilings of the general budget and of each annex budget - The fixation of the ceilings of charges of each category of special accounts - The fixation of the authorization ceiling for remunerated posts by the State - General data of the balance - The fixation by mission of authorizations for commitment and payment credits - The fixation by ministry and by annex budget, of the ceiling of authorizations for posts II. [...]
[...] Modalities of adoption and content of the state budget Public Finances PART II - STATE FINANCES CHAPTER 4 - Modalities of adoption and content of the state budget Section 1 - Notion of budget and finance law > Finance law: legal act that provides and authorizes the state budget = Act of foresight Article 1 LOLF It determines, for an exercise corresponding to the civil year, the nature, amount, and allocation of the resources of the state charges as well as the budgetary and financial balance that results from it (LOLF, Article 1st) > 4 types of finance laws according to the organic law of December 28, 2021: - The finance law of the year - The corrective finance laws - The end-of-management finance law, newly created Form of corrective finance law but which arrives at the end to adjust revenues and expenses - The law on the results of management and approving the accounts of the year (new designation of the budget law) This law transcribes the budget execution (it is adopted for a year) To check that the execution corresponds well to what has been authorized, the parliament must pronounce on a specific law (which must be deposited before June 30) > The finance laws distinguish within the budget : - The general budget, which groups all budgetary revenues and expenditures - The special accounts - The annex budgets Adoption Procedure > The finance law should normally be adopted before December 31 Otherwise, a special law authorizing the collection of taxes and conducting expenses by decrees (for example, law of February 14, 2025) can be used > In order to have a finance law by December 31 - Strict control of the procedure - Rationalized parliamentarism - The executive has a wide range of prerogatives - But it's still the parliament that decides (for example, Barnier government) It is referred to as the financial law for the State because it authorizes expenditure ceilings While for social security, it is referred to as a financing law because we set expenditure forecasts and objectives, but these are not ceilings, we cannot stop because we have reached a ceiling?) We only start discussing the social security financing project once the finance bill project has been adopted We have to wait until we have authorized the withholding of taxes) II. [...]
[...] A strict encadrement of deadlines > Adoption of the finance law starts with an administrative phase under the control of the executive: Article 38 LOLF: 'Under the authority of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance prepares the draft laws of finance, which are deliberated in the Council of Ministers' Preparation begins as early as January Within the first phase Negotiation phase: - January: determination of priorities - March: determination of performance indicators - April: submission of the stability programme to the European Commission - May: negotiation with ministries Arbitration phase : - July: Prime Minister submits his arbitration and addresses a letter to ministers setting the ceilings for allocated credits and jobs - Report presented to parliament - August-September: drafting and finalization of budget documents - September: opinion of the State Council - Opinion of the High Council of Public Finances Analysis of economic projections - Adoption of the draft budget law in the council of ministers on the same day: presentation to the parliamentary finance commissions and the press Article 47 of the Constitution: Fixes at 70 days the deadline given to the parliament to decide on the draft budget law First reading in the national assembly (40 days) if the deadline is not respected, the senate will have only 15 days First reading in the senate (20 days) Parliamentary shuttle (parliamentary CMP discussion) (10 days) Emergency recall of right Regarding annexed documents, a certain number must be deposited as of the first Tuesday in October In practice, deposit of certain delayed documents > The Constitutional Council considered that, contrary to the letter of Article 47 of the Constitution and the LOLS, it could be derogated from the 40-day deadline given to the National Assembly, if it did not prejudice the Senate's examination deadlines. [...]
[...] The latter responds in writing by no later than October 10 > Association with the preparation : - Debate on public finances orientation (spring) - Government presents a report on the evolution of the national economy and public finance orientation + situation of local authorities > Importance of work in commission : - Role of the finance commission - Rapporteur elaborates a three-volume report - Chapter I Macro-economic framework and conditions for balance - Chapter II First part (resources) - Chapter III Second part, expenditure and fiscal provisions without effect on balance + reports of special rapporteurs > Vote : - Revalorisation of the role of parliament - Vote on the finance law - Can modify the allocation of credits within a mission - Create or delete a program - Fix the employment ceilings of the State and operators - Modify the objectives and performance indicators of ministries (ARS = regional health agency > Voting modalities : - In accordance with Article 43 of the LFI, the discussion of credits leads to a vote by mission - The credits of the BA (annex budget) and the credits or the overdrafts of the special accounts of the treasury are voted by BA and CST (special accounts of the territory . [...]
