Budget 2024: what will change in the daily lives of the French

Europe1 .fr with AFP 14:06 p.m., September 27, 2023

End of the energy shield, renovation of housing, taxes on highways: this is how the 2024 budget presented Wednesday will change the daily lives of the French, if it is voted.

End of the energy shield

Gas and electricity bills will increase in 2023, with the gradual end of the "tariff shield", launched in autumn 2021 by the government to limit (but not eliminate) for two years the increases in electricity and gas tariffs. It's already over for gas since the end of July.

Regulated electricity tariffs, on which 23 million customers depend and which have increased by 31% since 2021, will increase by up to 10% in February 2024, according to the government's commitment.

The State currently still supports "37% of the electricity bill of the French", indicated mid-September the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. In total, €10 billion of the €16 billion in savings in the 2024 budget will come from phasing out the electricity tariff shield by the end of 2024.

Housing renovation and zero-interest loan

Aid will support "the ramp-up of efficient renovations assisted and accompanied" by MaPrimeRénov', with a target of 200,000 renovations in 2024. The zero-interest loan "is extended" for four years but "refocused", and will exclude, for example, the financing of the installation of heating devices running on fossil fuels.

68 million euros will also be devoted to MaPrimeAdapt', a new device used to adapt housing to disability and loss of autonomy that "will be open to people with disabilities regardless of age," promises the executive.

"In total, nearly 5 billion in commitments are planned in 2024 to support the French in the renovation of their homes, an increase of 1.6 billion euros in commitments compared to 2024," says the government.

Taxation of motorways and airports

The government wants to introduce in 2024 a new tax on major motorway concessions and major airports, which should bring in 600 million euros annually, in order to finance the ecological transition.

There will be no repercussions on toll rates, says Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, because of the legal formula chosen which will prohibit it according to him to motorway concession companies. He was responding to the president of Vinci Autoroutes, Pierre Coppey, who said that "a tax increase is inevitably an increase".

"Each airline" is "free" to set its fares but for its part, the government will not impose an additional tax on airline tickets in 2024, a track once mentioned by the government, he also said.

Car malus and purchase of electric cars

The penalties on the most polluting vehicles are noted for individuals as well as for company fleets.

The "ecological bonus" for the purchase of electric cars will be maintained but will depend next year on their "environmental score", including their transport distance, probably at the expense of Chinese vehicles.

Taxation and social benefits

Households will see the income tax scale indexed to inflation and raised by 4.8%, but they will have to wait until 2025 to see the promise of a $2 billion tax cut come true. Pensions will be increased by 5.2% on 1st January and social benefits by 4.6% on 1st April.