Paris (AFP)

Tax cuts for households, but little effort on the deficit and companies involved: the draft budget 2020 raises concerns and criticism of employers and proponents of rigor, while the left castigates an insufficient commitment in the ecological transition.

Venus defending the draft budget before the Finance Committee in the National Assembly, the Ministers of Economy Bruno Mayor and Public Accounts Gerald Darmanin faced a salvo of criticism of opposition members.

The first came from commission chairman Eric Woerth (LR): this bill is "an expenditure budget when we would have needed an investment budget," he said, also pointing "the decrease of the weakest deficit since 10-15 years" and a debt that "stabilizes at a very high level".

Other MPs The Republicans have hit the nail on the subject of fiscal discipline, questioning the "renouncement" deficit reduction ambitions posted early five-year period.

On the left, insubordinate France (LFI) has accused in a statement this budget of "ecological irresponsibility" and "aggravated social discrimination", without sufficient investments in favor of the climate.

Same story for the national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, for whom the budget is without "concrete answers" to the social emergency (...) and climate ", pointing in particular the deletions of positions at the Ministry of Transition ecological.

In its budget proposal for next year, the government has planned a drop of more than 9 billion euros in taxes for households, particularly through the reduction of income tax, and some measures of savings, such as the virtual freeze of social benefits, the elimination of tax loopholes or a smaller reduction in corporate taxes.

Overall, with growth slowing to 1.3%, the deficit will be 2.2% of GDP, compared to 2% initially forecast by the government. Above all, the structural deficit (excluding exceptional items and economic developments) will remain stable, and the public debt will barely fall to 98.7% of GDP, after rising to 98.8% this year.

Earlier, the first President of the Court of Auditors and Chairman of the High Council for Public Finance Didier Migaud noted before the deputies that the public deficit remained "significantly higher than the average of the euro area".

- Fear of seeing growth "stall" -

"Despite some improvement, the situation of our public finances remains fragile and would leave little room for fiscal maneuver in the event of an accentuation of the economic slowdown," he warned.

Faced with these criticisms, the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire once again defended the government's "political" choices on support for consumption in a "context of marked slowdown in global growth."

He also rejected attacks on government laxity on public finances, ensuring that the budget "continues" their recovery and that the deficit is "at one of the lowest levels in 20 years."

The general rapporteur of the budget and MP (LREM) Joel Giraud agreed in this direction, welcoming the "good news" on French growth and tax cuts. He also welcomes in a statement the "balance found between recovery and control of the public deficit".

On the employers' side, there is concern about the efforts being made by businesses. Medef fears that this budget will "stall the engine of growth." It means "a stop of the policy of the offer", led by the government for several years to favor the companies, still denounced the Medef, rejecting the argumentation of the government.

According to Bercy, corporate taxes will drop by 1 billion euros next year, thanks to the drop in corporate tax, and 13 billion euros over the entire five-year period.

The Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME) regretted certain measures of the 2020 budget which will "increase the levies on companies".

© 2019 AFP