Overview

• Éric Ciotti sent a letter to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu outlining a counter-budget that seeks €120 billion in savings, with AFP obtaining a copy ahead of a scheduled meeting at Matignon.
• The plan targets cuts to immigration-related spending, including turning State Medical Aid into a strictly limited emergency measure, and proposes reducing France’s EU contribution and development aid.
• It also calls for overhauls of social policies, modernization of unemployment insurance and vocational training, and other structural reductions presented as spending reforms rather than tax measures.
• Ciotti sets three red lines for any deal: no increases in compulsory levies, no de-indexing of pensions, and no reduction in coverage for care or medicines.
• The submission contrasts with the €44 billion plan rejected by the National Assembly on September 8 and represents a more austere approach from the UDR leader allied with the RN; the government has not stated whether it will adopt the proposals.