Le Figaro Bordeaux

It’s not me, it’s the others. Cooked for nearly two hours by the Senate Finance Committee, former Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave wanted to blame local authorities in part for the worsening situation of public finances. The former minister, deputy for Gironde and opposition politician in Bordeaux, was heard on Thursday, after Bruno Le Maireas part of an information mission on the drift of public accounts.

Speaking before several senators, Thomas Cazenave asserted that government spending would “decrease in 2024”.and estimated that “the cause of the deterioration in the public deficit is revenue that has not been kept and a very rapid increase in local authority expenditure”.while “government spending is being held in check”.. According to the former minister, “what we need to focus our collective efforts on are revenue forecasts, which have completely failed to meet their targets and account for three-quarters of the deterioration, while the rest is local authority spending”..

“It’s not a value judgment”

An assertion that didn’t go down too well with the senators. “You’re pouring vinegar on the wound, and insistently so, explaining that most of the deterioration comes from the local authorities.”retorts Jean-François HussonSenator (ex-Les Républicains) for Meurthe-et-Moselle and general budget rapporteur in the French Senate. “I never said that the main cause of the deterioration in the deficit was the local authorities, that’s the second reason.”Thomas Cazenave insisted to a rather dubious panel.

Senator Claude Raynal, chairman of the French Finance Committee, also seemed unconvinced by this argument. “You’re talking about a difference between an estimate made by Bercy and reality, which means that quite simply the estimate was wrong.”said the Socialist MP. “It’s curious to put on the same level a subject that is piloted and one that is not piloted.” Claude Raynal also points out that 2024, “two years before the municipal election “is a “top of the cycle year for cities.

Thomas Cazenave insists that “the financing needs of local authorities have risen from 5 billion to 20 billion”.. The MP points out that “in the history of the accounts kept by the General Directorate of Public Finances, it has been at least 25 years since we have seen such a need for financing.”adding that “this is not a value judgement”.. “I never said that local elected officials were bad managers.”cautiously repeats the Bordeaux politician, reminding us that the public deficit is not only that of the State, but also that of territorial administrations and the local authorities. social security. “I’m just saying that these decisions [des élus locaux] have had a much greater impact on the public deficit than was expected.”