Exceptional taxes, AME, restored teaching positions… what does the 2025 budget bill presented by François Bayrou contain?

While François Bayrou announced on Saturday, February 1st that he would trigger article 49.3 to obtain the promulgation of the budget law, a motion of censure will be filed by the Insoumis. It remains to be seen whether the socialists and the National Rally will vote to censure the government. 

Exceptional effort demanded from large companies and the richest, State spending dried up: here are the main measures of the State budget project, in its compromise version adopted Friday January 31 in the joint committee, which will be examined this Monday February 3 in the Assembly.

This joint text, validated at the initiative of the majority government coalition within this CMP, must be submitted to the deputies on Monday, with the use of 49.3 by Prime Minister François Bayrou as announced Saturday, who can still amend it up to the last minute. This draft budget bears “the austerity mark of François Bayrou's government”, criticized the chairman of the Finance Committee Eric Coquerel (LFI) on Friday.

State revenues in the draft budget

The budget having been rejected in the fall by the National Assembly, the CMP largely confirmed the copy adopted on January 23 in the Senate, a version generally faithful to the initial proposals of former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, taken up by François Bayrou. Especially on the section dedicated to revenues.

There are therefore measures announced in the fall, such as the temporary effort on income tax for the wealthiest households (2 billion euros hoped for) and the “exceptional contribution” on the profits of large companies (8 billion). This effort was limited to the year 2025 alone, compared to 2026 in the “Barnier version”.

Other provisions retained: a reinforced penalty on the purchase of thermal cars, a heavier tax on share buybacks and gas boilers, a one-off tax on the CMA-CGM shipowner, also reduced to one year and not two. The increase to 0.4% of the tax on financial transactions, considered insufficient by the Socialist Party in recent days, was also confirmed.

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The parliamentarians also found a compromise on the increase in the tax on airline tickets, which would go from 2.63 euros to 7.30 euros for an economy class ticket to France or Europe, while the government was aiming for 9.50 euros. The system would bring in 800 to 850 million euros to the State, calculates a parliamentarian.

Objective: to reduce the public deficit to 5.4% of GDP

The Bayrou government, which wants to reduce the public deficit to 5.4% of GDP by 2025, has included numerous cuts in the budgets of several ministries.

Public development aid, ecology, culture, agriculture, research and higher education… The cuts amount to several hundred million euros each time, despite some gestures on the prevention of natural disasters, the Green Fund or the Overseas budget, revalued to respond in particular to the need for reconstruction in Mayotte.

The financial effort requested from local authorities has been stabilized for several weeks on the Senate version, i.e. approximately 2.2 billion euros. With, for the departments, the possibility of raising the ceiling for taxes on real estate transactions (DMTO) by 0.5 points, except for first-time buyers.

For the regions, the possibility of collecting from companies a “mobility payment” up to 0.2%, voted in the Senate, saw its rate reduced to 0.15%. The government also gave up on extending the number of days of waiting for civil servants in the event of sick leave to three, but the compensation rate was reduced to 90% instead of 100%.

AME, teachers,..

Several sensitive points were arbitrated by the CMP, in particular on the budget for state medical aid (AME, care for illegal immigrants), reduced by 111 million euros compared to Mr. Barnier's budget, to maintain it at the 2024 level (around 1.3 billion).

The parliamentarians set François Bayrou's promise to restore 4,000 teaching posts in stone in the budget… But at a budget constant: the 50 million euros needed will be taken from elsewhere in the Education budget.

The credits for the Organic Agency, removed in the Senate, have also been restored, as promised by the government. The Sports budget, which the government had considered reducing in recent days despite the sector's revolt, has been protected in its version proposed in the fall, already significantly reduced compared to 2024. Denounced by all oppositions for its cost and lack of efficiency, the universal national service (SNU) has seen its credits reduced, still resisting a pure and simple elimination.