Valérie Pécresse denounces a withdrawal of 90 million euros by the State from the IDFM budget

The president of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) Valérie Pécresse affirmed on Tuesday that the State intended to take next year 90 million euros allocated to the organizing authority for Ile-de-France transport, which could, according to her, have negative consequences for the Grand Paris Express.

Valérie Pécresse indicated that she learned on Monday that the government planned to take this sum to repay it to the Société des Grands Projets (SGP), responsible for the Grand Paris Express project. Asked about the question, Bercy was unable to respond immediately.

“I don't know how to vote for a budget (...) with 90 million euros of holes in the fund,” said Valérie Pécresse on Tuesday during a press conference, especially since she does not have “the right (...) to vote for an unbalanced budget.” The president of the region assured that such a reduction could require “postponing the opening of new lines of the Grand Paris Express”. “Either we do not open line 18”, the first section of which should normally be put into service before the end of the year, “or it will be a drop in revenue for the SNCF and the RATP”, she warned.

The State and IDFM signed an agreement in 2023 running until 2031 which was to help finance the operation of the numerous new metro lines planned in the Grand Paris Express. Among the terms of this agreement was the creation of a tourist surcharge, paid to IDFM, on which this levy would relate, according to Valérie Pécresse.

This additional tourist tax has proven to be more lucrative: around 245 million euros per year in 2024 and 2025 compared to 200 million envisaged when this tax was created, according to IDFM accounts. But Valérie Pécresse argues that conversely, revenue from the tax paid by employers to finance Ile-de-France transport, the rate of which the agreement had increased, was “at half mast” compared to forecasts due to the economic “conjuncture”.