The government wants to cut spending by 6% by 2029, without a "chainsaw"

"We want to reduce our public spending by 6% over five years," Ms. de Montchalin said during a press conference on public finances with Prime Minister François Bayrou. "If we were a household, we are describing a situation where we could go from spending 100 euros to 94 euros," she explained.

"The goal is not public finances, the goal is not figures, it is our room for maneuver, our ability to remain a powerful country, a sovereign country," she insisted.

Among the options discussed, the minister mentioned the merger or elimination of certain public operators, action against "the very serious increase" in sick leave, the revision of the public procurement mechanism in order to lower prices, or "free services that remove responsibility" in terms of public services.

"It is around these principles that we will build the budget" for 2026, she continued. "With this, we can reduce spending, and do it without a chainsaw, pruning shears, or pruning shears."

Highlighting the objective of reducing the public deficit to 3% of GDP by 2029, the maximum allowed by European Union rules, Amélie de Montchalin clarified: "This is not a diktat from Brussels. (...) We are doing this for ourselves, for our nation, for our independence, for our sovereignty."

This debt represented 2024% of gross domestic product at the end of 113, or €3.305,3 billion. The debt burden, which stood at €62 billion this year, is "almost inexorably on its way to reaching €100 billion in 2029," warned Prime Minister François Bayrou.

Economy Minister Eric Lombard said the 6% reduction in public spending over five years was equivalent to an effort of "1% per year, even a little less in the first few years."

"The effort must be equitable between the three main categories" - State, social security and social communities, and this will be a matter of "dialogue," he added.

In order to maintain the competitiveness of businesses, "we do not want to increase either taxes or business charges," noted Eric Lombard.

In 2025, the budgetary effort amounts to around fifty billion euros, to which an additional five billion have recently been added, taken from credits set aside.

"We will not be spending three billion euros, and we will also be setting aside two billion euros of spending that we are preparing to cancel if times remain difficult again by the end of the year," Amélie de Montchalin explained.