Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised an additional 1.5 billion euros to the departments in the 2027 budget and proposed to allocate part of the general social contribution (CSG) to these communities, in a letter sent Monday to their presidents. “I wanted to make an exception in favor of the departments,” writes the tenant of Matignon in this letter revealed by Le Monde and of which AFP obtained a copy.
“Your revenue will thus increase beyond inflation: all departments will have an additional 1.5 billion euros at their disposal,” even if they will still have to participate in the national effort to restore public finances, it is added. The head of government also proposes to allocate “300 million euros of CSG to finance the personalized autonomy allowance (APA)”.
Social assistance, such as active solidarity income (RSA) or APA, represents a major and growing part of the budgets of departments in France, absorbing a very significant part of their operating expenses. The government will present a first copy of its budget for 2027 to the Council of Ministers on Thursday, leaving it up to Parliament to try to find a compromise, less than seven months before the presidential election.
Also read Sébastien Lecornu unveils his budget in Le Figaro: “I am proposing a budgetary effort of around 54 billion euros”
Time for the response. Barely hours after the publication by Mediapart of an article attributing anti-Semitic and conspiratorial writings to Jordan Bardella dating from 2013, when he was still only a teenager, but already a member of the National Front - now Rally -, the president of the flame party counterattacked on CNews. Confronted with comments that he considers “completely delusional” and that he “denies” having made, the nationalist MEP announced that he had filed a complaint for “defamation” against the information site.
An action justified by the “extremely organized” nature of these revelations, which, he assures, should have “come out” in the event that he had taken up the torch from Marine Le Pen for the presidential election, in the event of her legal impediment. It doesn't matter that the article appeared when the head of the RN deputies was finally able to remain in the running: Jordan Bardella persists and signs. For him, this affair is akin to “a charade operation”, intended to “destabilize the campaign” of a given RN favorite for 2027, and to “try to destroy it politically”. As for who is in charge, he puts forward two hypotheses. “Either Mediapart is at the origin, and (as) it is not based on anything, it is extremely serious; either Mediapart is being smoked out by people who have an interest in this destabilizing operation, and it is even more serious,” charges the MEP.
Also read “Delusional comments”: accused of anti-Semitic writings, Jordan Bardella sues Mediapart for defamation
The popularity of Emmanuel Macron, and his Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, is falling sharply according to a poll published Tuesday, against a backdrop of concern among the French regarding the measures taken to mitigate the rise in fuel prices.
The head of state saw his popularity drop by 7 points compared to the end of June, reaching its historic low with only 18% of respondents who believe that he is a good president, according to this Odoxa-Mascaret barometer for Public Senate and the regional press.
According to this online survey, carried out before the intervention of the President of the Republic on Thursday on the news of TF1 and France 2 on the question of fuels, 75% of respondents believe that the expansion of aid to “heavy rollers” announced by the government is insufficient. And 62% of them believe that the executive must devote more money to the issue, despite France's level of deficit.
Also read: Emmanuel Macron reaches record unpopularity, amid concerns over fuel
