The Chambers of Commerce and Industry denounce a one-third reduction in their budget in the 2026 Finance Bill. They warn about the economic and social consequences of such a measure, which they consider contrary to the State’s commitments.
The 2026 Finance Bill (PLF) has provoked a strong reaction from the network of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI). Presented in the fall, the bill provides for a one-third reduction in their budget. This decision is considered “incomprehensible, misguided, anti-economic, unfair, and unacceptable”, according to the president of CCI France, Alain Di Crescenzo.
On October 16, 2025, in Levallois, the network representatives reminded that the CCIs had already suffered, since 2013, “a 66% cut in State funding.” A reduction that entrepreneurs, merchants, and CCI collaborators say they have “accepted and taken on.”
They add that this new budget cut would call into question a commitment made by the State.
The network believes that such a decision would have an immediate social impact. “It would lead to the elimination of over 3,000 jobs, affecting collaborators who have not underperformed. This represents, for the CCIs alone, as many job reductions as those planned in the entire public sector in the PLF 2026. In this context, the PLF 2026 would mean the end of the CCI network,” warned Alain Di Crescenzo.
“Against the tide for our economy”
For the CCIs, this reduction comes at a critical moment. “Against the tide for our economy,” they write, while “our businesses face unprecedented difficulties with a record number of failures, 66,000 in 2024, and an even more alarming forecast for 2025 with 68,000 companies affected.”
The chambers remind that they have strengthened their local action. In 2024, they have provided “1,134,000 support sessions” to businesses. According to a study by OpinionWay Institute, conducted in 2025, the CCIs “create at least four times more value than the amount they receive from the State.”
These figures, put forward by the network, highlight the economic importance of their missions. These range from supporting business creators to training young people and supporting territories. The CCIs remind that they are “one of the last local support actors for businesses and the leading trainer after national education.”
For the period 2024-2026, the chambers are already “contributing 100 million euros,” the representatives of the French CCIs remind.
Their disappearance, they warn, would weaken an essential link in the local economic fabric. The chambers assert that they operate today in a context where businesses, especially smaller ones, are particularly exposed to rising costs, recruitment difficulties, and declining demand.
An appeal to review the budgetary trajectory
Alain Di Crescenzo now calls on the executive to reconsider its position. He asks “the Government to abandon this destructive budgetary path and restore a strategic, fair, and sustainable vision of the role of the CCIs for the benefit of our businesses, our learners, and our territories.”
For the president of CCI France, the network’s survival will depend on the State’s ability to recognize its contribution to the economy. The CCIs present themselves as a field relay, directly connected with the realities of businesses and territories.
In conclusion, the network calls for mobilization. The statement ends with a message addressed to its partners: “business leaders, entrepreneurs, merchants, students, territories, you can count on us. We remain 200% committed by your side.”
The budgetary debate is to continue in Parliament in the coming weeks. The chambers hope that the elected officials will hear their warning and appreciate the consequences of such financial disengagement on local economic life.
