Bad surprise for Sébastien Lecornu. Indeed, the government suffered a setback in the Senate during the examination of the updating of the military programming law (LPM). The senators deleted the article which fixed the budgetary trajectory of the armies until 2030, calling into question the objective of bringing military spending to 436 billion euros over the period, or 36 billion more than what was planned in the previous programming adopted in 2023.
Asked on Public Senate on the sidelines of Questions to the Government, the Prime Minister recognized the difficulty created by this vote. “We are talking about a serious subject which is the military subject […] We need a trajectory that is sustainable. The real problem as we speak is that there is no longer any trajectory in the text,” he declared.
Lecornu calls on parliamentarians to find a way out
This deletion came after a disagreement between the government and the senatorial right. LR elected officials demanded an additional 14 billion euros for the armies. Defeated on this proposal in the Chamber, they then obtained the rejection of the article defining the budgetary roadmap until 2030.
Faced with this situation, the head of government called on parliamentarians to find a way out. “The parliamentarians must find a solution but I will let the debates take place. I am used to being calm with what is happening in the National Assembly,” he said. The text must still continue its legislative journey, with a Senate vote expected on Tuesday then a possible joint committee between deputies and senators.
“A deep disagreement with the government”
For its part, the senatorial right asserted its choice. During a press conference, the LR president of the Defense committee, Cédric Perrin, explained that he wanted to “recognize a deep disagreement with the government”. “We considered that 436 billion was not enough to ensure the security of France,” he explained, while promising “to see the negotiation through to the end” during the continuation of the parliamentary debates.
Our file on Defense
Even if the budgetary trajectory could be reestablished in the next stages of the legislative procedure, the military programming law retains an indicative scope. The credits allocated to the armies remain in fact subject to a vote by Parliament each year within the framework of the finance bill.
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