Overview
- The Paris public prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation for violation of professional secrecy and abuse of trust and has assigned the case to the BRDP, a unit that handles serious criminal probes.
- Matignon reported the referral to judges after press articles published provisional working documents used to prepare the 2027 budget and said the leaks risked influencing economic life while stressing the signalement was not aimed at journalists.
- Les Echos published the articles that cited confidential draft documents describing a plan to make parts of employer contributions to employee savings plans subject to social charges, a technical tax change that matters to employers and savers.
- Journalists’ groups, led by the SNJ, say the prime minister’s move could deter confidential sources and clash with France’s constitutional protection for journalists’ sources.
- The BRDP assignment marks a substantive criminal response that could lead investigators to seek internal government or civil-servant sources and may affect how future budget work is handled and reported.