MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, has rejected the 2025 budget bill.
In the fall, members of the parliament must approve the state budget and social security spending for the coming year. Voting takes place on two parts of the bill: expenditure and revenue.
During the first vote on the budget revenue part, 192 members of parliament voted in favor and 362 voted against it amid plans for large-scale budget cuts that should result in savings of 60 billion euros ($63.7 billion). Some provisions, including tax increases for large companies, were retained. At the same time, members of parliament rejected increases in the electricity tax and the «environmental» tax on cars.
The text in its original form will now be submitted to the Senate for discussion. The first reading of the bill must be completed within 40 days after its submission, otherwise the government has the right to adopt the budget without a vote, using Article 49.3 of the constitution.
