The High Council of Public Finance issues an opinion on the draft military programming law (PLPM), after being referred by the Government to examine the provisions of the PLPM having an impact on public finances. This opinion assesses the compatibility of these provisions with the expenditure targets set out in the draft public finance programming bill for 2023-2027.
The High Council of Public Finance was referred by the Government to examine the provisions of the draft military programming bill (PLPM) for the period 2024-2030 having an impact on public finances. The organic law relative to the budget acts provides that the High Council shall assess the compatibility of these provisions with the expenditure targets set out in the current public finance programming law or, failing that, in the introductory article of the last budget law.
In the absence of a public finance programming law (LPFP), and since the preliminary article of the 2023 budget law covers only the year 2023, whereas the draft LPM covers the period 2024-2030, the High Council is not in a position to issue an opinion as provided for by the organic law. A programming law is essential to enable the High Council to fully exercise its mandate.
This difficulty illustrates once again the absolute necessity of having a programming law setting a multi-year trajectory for public finances, in accordance with France's organic provisions and European commitments. The High Council therefore calls for the rapid adoption of a credible and ambitious LPFP to provide a multi-year anchor for public finance management.
Nevertheless, in accordance with the Government's request, the High Council examined, for the information of the Parliament and the citizen, the compatibility of the PLPM with the trajectory proposed by the draft public finance programming bill (PLPFP) tabled in Parliament on 26 September 2022.
The High Council notes that the budgetary appropriations for the Defence mission in the PLPM and the PLPFP are identical for the years 2024 and 2025 and that, according to the Government, this would also be the case for the years 2026 and 2027, even though the High Council was not able to ascertain this directly, as the PLPFP only presents the budgetary missions appropriations for the first three years of the programme.
The High Council also notes that the PLPM establishes the amount of programmed needs for the period 2024-2030 at €413.3bn and identifies €400bn of budgetary appropriations to finance them. The gap between the programmed needs and the identified appropriations - €13.3bn - would be made up either by additional resources (inter-ministerial funding, extra-budgetary resources) or by a reduction in the planned expenditure due to carryover expenses or expenses under-execution. The exact impact of the PLPM on the amount of public spending planned in the PLPFP is therefore still subject to uncertainty.
Finally, the High Council notes that the PLPM, together with the programming laws already enacted, constrains the other State spending. This would imply a significant and, to date, poorly documented effort to control expenditure, as mentioned by the High Council in its opinion on the PLPFP.