The 2025 draft budget presented yesterday by Prime Minister Michel Barnier indicates a virtual stability of payment appropriations for the Culture mission which stand at 3.92 billion euros, a slight increase of 14 million compared to the law. of initial finances (LFI) 2024, an increase which will quickly be erased by inflation (expected at 1.8%).
This quasi-stability is measured against the general drop in state public spending, which is only 2.5 billion euros. The only item of expenditure which is increasing the most is the debt burden (loan interest alone) which increases from 52 to 54.9 billion euros, or 14 times the budget of the Culture mission.
The distribution of the budget between heritage, creation and transmission does not change or very little except that personnel costs increase by 23 million euros. We will have to wait for the details of the ministry’s expenditure to know which budget item will fall to compensate for this increase of €23 million. The number of ministry officials does not change while operators (large museums) lose 82 positions.
At this stage, the only notable indications on the content of the programs concern the work of the Center Pompidou which is maintained and the Culture Pass which will be “improved” but which seems to have saved its endowment.
Let us remember, however, that we are comparing cabbages and carrots, only what really was spent really matters. On the one hand, the comparison with the 2024 LFI does not take into account the (strong) cut of €204 million and on the other hand it is very likely that the 2025 budget will not be entirely spent due to the reserve rate. .
It should be noted that this slight increase (excluding inflation) of €14 million is offset by a decrease of €16 million in payment appropriations for cultural diplomacy managed by the Quai d’Orsay.
Finally, will this budget pass the test of Parliament where on one side the left wants to increase taxes and public spending and the right wants the opposite? Laurent Saint-Martin, the budget minister, has planned a 5 billion euro reduction in spending that parliamentarians will have to distribute. Will the Ministry of Culture carry its share, almost 40 million euros? While traditionally the PLF for culture was more or less the final budget of the ministry, this year all scenarios are on the table including a departure of the Prime Minister which would lead France into a serious political and economic crisis.
