France. The rejection by the National Assembly, on November 20, of the revenue part of the PLF 2026 has the consequence that it is the text proposed by the government, without the amendments adopted in session by the deputies, which is submitted to the Senate. What will become of these amendments in the Senate and then in the parliamentary shuttle? Or in January if the budget is not adopted and it will be re-discussed? Difficult to say.
If there is one amendment that the art world is happy to see fall into oblivion, it is the one that subjects works of art to the so-called “unproductive” wealth tax. A term (“ unproductive “) which has caused as much ink to flow as the consequences of the IFI for the art market and which recalls the excitement caused by the classification of culture in the “non-essential commerce” category during Covid. However, two days earlier, deputies had adopted the three-year extension of the special deduction in favor of companies which purchase original works by living artists.
Chambord, the Louvre…
The heritage has been particularly protected. MP Jérémie Patrier-Leitus (Horizon) convinced his peers to increase the payment appropriations for the Heritage program by €57 million, by transfer from the Policy Support Program of the Ministry of Culture which mainly accommodates the personnel expenses of this ministry. The MP did not specify the number of agents who would have to be made redundant to save the €57 million. During the same session, the same MP who was entrusted with a mission by the Prime Minister on the safety and security of heritage sites in the wake of the Louvre theft, obtained an extension of €12 million from the Heritage program in anticipation of the recommendations of his report, again financing it by reducing staff costs (!).
Chambord and the Manufactures Sèvres et Gobelins were able to find understanding deputies since the National Assembly agreed to increase the National Furniture subsidy by €2,157,015 (precisely!) so that it could organize a major festival dedicated to the discovery of artistic professions and training for young people. For its part, the Château de Chambord has obtained that the tax reduction rate for donations to the château be increased from 60 to 75% (as for Notre-Dame Cathedral) in order to cope with the work. “urgent” consolidation and restoration costing €37 million.
During the same session, the deputies decided to reduce the envelope of the Culture Pass by €5 million in order to increase the heritage payment credits then to increase it by €5.5 million! Finally, in the same vein, several parliamentarians voted for the creation of a specific and transversal program on the accessibility of culture and artistic practice for people with disabilities, with a budget of €10 million by correspondingly reducing the budget allocated to live performances.
It is therefore the government’s text which is now being discussed in the Senate, providing for a reduction of 4.3% (or €171 million) in payment appropriations for the culture mission.
