Electricity tax hike: united opposition in the Senate
November 26, 2024, the senate combining voices from right and left, a large majority rejected the government’s proposal aimed at increasing the electricity tax. This system, integrated into the 2025 draft budget, should allow the executive to recover more than 3 billion euros. However, the senators preferred to preserve the homes, arguing that this measure has serious and unfair social financial effects (estimated profit of 1.2 billion euros). An encryption ” maybe a bit overrated”decided the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, on November 27, 2024 in Southern Radio. As stated by Thierry Cozic, socialist senator: “ The government chose an easy way to find new revenue: re-tax electricity. »
To compensate for this opposition, the Senate proposes an increase in the gas tax. According to Jean-François Husson, general rapporteur of the Republicans, this choice favors the transition towards carbon-free energy such as electricity. However, this decision will have a direct impact on consumers. According to him, for a 100 m² house heated by gas, the annual bill can rise to around 60 euros, while the increase in electricity taxes costs between 200 and 300 euros for the same house.
The government maintained its line
Faced this opposition the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, reaffirmed the position of the executive. According to him, increasing the TICFE (domestic tax on the final consumption of electricity) is not a very harmful solution, especially since the drop in wholesale electricity market prices will help reduce the impact on French bills. The Budget Minister recalled that the government is committed to reducing electricity bills by 9% by February 1, 2025 for 80% of the French.
This failure for the Barnier government is a symbolic victory for the opposition, which criticizes the growing tax pressure on households. The National Rally made this measure one of its red lines with the aim of censuring the Barnier government. The Senate, though traditionally aligned with the executive, marks a notable divide here.