Electricity: Michel Barnier drops the tax increase, your bill will drop in 2025

The Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, confirmed this Thursday, November 28 that he was renouncing the increase in taxes on electricity in the 2025 budget. A decision which responds to a request from Marine Le Pen, threatening to table a motion to censorship against the government.

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About-face. Michel Barnier finally “decided not to increase the electricity taxes in the 2025 finance bill”he announced in an interview with Figaro published this Thursday, November 28. While the threat of a motion of censure hangs over the government more than ever, the Prime Minister accedes to one of the requests of Marine Le Pen (National Rally).

On Monday, Michel Barnier met the main opposition leaders. The left reiterated its intention to vote for a motion of censure if the government were to make use of article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows a text to be adopted without a vote by deputies. On the side of the RN, which totals 140 deputies taking into account the 16 allies of Eric Ciotti, the suspense remains at its height. Marine Le Pen reaffirmed “its red lines”.

Towards a 14% drop in electricity prices

The leader of the RN demands “clear and firm commitments on the abandonment of the 3 billion euros in increases in the price of electricity (in the state budget), the abandonment of the delisting of new medicines and the deindexation of pensions”. The increase in the tax on electricity, judged “inadmissible” by the member for Pas-de-Calais, was therefore left on the sidelines. But it is difficult to know if this will be enough to convince Marine Le Pen and her troops.

The abandonment of this measure should allow “a drop in electricity prices of 14%, which will therefore go well beyond the 9% drop initially planned”says the Prime Minister. “Whether it was in my majority or the opposition leaders that I received: almost all of them asked me to evolve”Michel Barnier justifies himself.

The use of 49.3, an increasingly credible option

Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister of the Budget, reacted to this announcement from the Senate, in the middle of examining the PLF 2025: “This shows that, when Parliament says that a text can be improved, we (the government) know how to make it evolve”he indicated. Earlier this Thursday morning, the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, already assured that the government was “ready for concessions” explaining that he wanted to avoid “storm”at the microphone of BFMTV. Laurent Saint-Martin defended efforts already made: “There have been major developments on small pensions and reductions in contributions.” “Is it better to have a government that is not exactly the one we want or no budget ?»he asked.

Tuesday November 26, Michel Barnier made no secrets. He said the finance bill for 2025 would be “probably, definitely” adopted via article 49.3 of the Constitution, opening the way to a possible motion of censure. If the latter were adopted, the government would have to resign and the finance bill would be considered rejected. For the Prime Minister, “serious turbulence on the financial markets” could arise in the event of a motion of censure, he said on the set of 8 p.m. from TF1.