The French government will propose combining or eliminating a third of government agencies by the end of the year in a bid to save money, the public accounts minister said on Sunday.
“We will, by the end of the year, propose in the budget that a third of state-backed agencies and operators that are not universities are merged or eliminated,” Amelie de Montchalin, the public accounts minister, said in an interview with French broadcaster CNews/Europe 1.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s government has sought to cut the public sector budget deficit from 5.4% of economic output this year to 3%, the European Union’s ceiling, in 2029.
If we don’t save this way our public services, we allow a future intervention by the EU, and seeing what they did in Greece last time. We’re better off doing things slowly without people loosing their jobs rather than the IMF and Bruxelles cutting through our social contract.
There are multiple ways to balance a budget, but the conservatives only ever want to cut services, because that’s the outcome preferred by the rich. And regardless, a minority government really shouldn’t be trying to fundamentally reshape government structure. If you want to have that level of change, win an election.