Renaud Muselier presented this morning in a plenary session a budget—the first since he succeeded Christian Estrosi. “I definitely wanted to put my stamp on it,” he stated as if wanting to distance himself from his predecessor.
The Region has a budget of 2.5 billion euros. Thanks to managing operational costs, its debt reduction equates to 9.4 years in 2017 (down 0.4 from 2016).
“There are no more Greens. Environmental awareness is widespread.” With a very “Macron-like” pragmatism that the head of the Region does not deny, the share of the budget dedicated to the “green economy” will be 20% because he sees “a strong potential for job creation” there.
Perfect, one might think. But concretely?
About 400 million euros will be devoted to the ecological fund in the 2018 budget, of which 191 million will be for transportation. Key measures include the installation of electric charging stations for vehicles every 100 km by 2021 and the implementation of an eco-tax for the approximately 800,000 heavy goods vehicles in transit each year.
Developing renewable energies (photovoltaic, wind, biomass, geothermal…) at the Fos-Marseille port or on school roofs, deploying high-speed internet, and supporting new modes of transportation are also part of the initiatives.
The rehabilitation of public and private housing is also targeted, as is the development of selective sorting, thanks notably to 10 million European funds just raised with the “zero plastic 2030” goal. The idea is also to create one natural reserve per year, promote “positive taxation” on waste valorization, and raise awareness. Furthermore, focused efforts on training and apprenticeships in green jobs related to the sea, agriculture, or new technologies aim at attracting new businesses, creating employment, and improving quality of life—a virtuous circle that should lead to the creation of a “well-being barometer” for the inhabitants.
Beyond these environmental efforts, 2018 will continue the trend of state disengagement from previous years starting from 2014.
As you can see on the chart projected behind me, since 2014, our community has been drained of more than 400 million euros by the State.
This purge of local authorities was initiated by François Hollande, who cut state allocations to local authorities by 29 billion euros over three years.
With the abolition of the fund compensating for the transfer of economic competence from Departments to Regions (over 450 million euros, 35 million for our Region alone), the current Government continues this hemorrhage.
Political point:
Since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s term, there are true successes (France’s comeback on the international scene, labor reforms, his Minister of National Education, etc.), but there are also significant errors.
Among the President’s mistakes is his relationship with local elected officials.
This desire to re-centralize everything, this form of disdain for local authorities.
This leads to ever stronger state disengagement and unjust and ineffective decisions.
I understand the need to ask local governments for efforts.
What I don’t understand is:
1) The state asking us to make efforts without applying them to itself!
Unlike the state, we don’t have the right to pass a deficit budget! (The last state budget in balance was in 1974).
I would like to remind everyone that the 2017 State budget was not only in deficit but was clearly fraudulent. The French Court of Auditors judged it, for the first time in History, to be clearly unreliable by 8 billion euros.
I filed a complaint because I cannot stand this double standard.
The debt of local governments is less than 10% of the French public debt, which has doubled since 2000!
2) The Government demands the same efforts from well-managed local governments, which have already curtailed their operational expenses, as from those that still live beyond their means.
This summer, we were designated by Les Echos as the best-managed Region in France.
What makes it all the more remarkable is that according to a KPMG audit, we inherited the worst-managed Region in France!
Indeed, from the first year of our term with Christian Estrosi, we achieved 70 million euros in savings on the community’s operational costs (a 30% reduction in the car fleet and downgrading of vehicles, sale of unused Regional premises on the Canebière, mutualization of locales with other local governments for Regional Houses in the departments…).
Blindly demanding efforts from local governments, regardless of their good or bad management, is madness.
As you can see on the table projected behind me, we increased our savings by 10%, or 26.5 million euros, in this 2018 budget compared to last year, and our debt reduction capacity decreased further by 0.4 years to 9.4 years.
By demanding additional efforts, the Government now threatens our investment and the quality of our public services.
Note: I remind you that local government investment represents 70% of investment in France.
Refocusing on its skills and our political priorities:
To provide clarity to our action and to comply with the NOTRe law, we, along with the elected officials from my majority, made the choice to cease certain actions.
Housing:
This competence now falls to inter-municipal bodies (Metropolises and Intercommunalities) since the NOTRe law.
Thus, the rehabilitation of the public housing stock, the production of social housing, the land acquisitions by landlords and local authorities will no longer be directly subsidized to landlords.
Nonetheless, within the framework of our territorial development policy through Regional Territory Balance Contracts, if municipalities consider this a priority, we will continue to support them within the envelope allocated to their RRBTC.
Moreover, we chose to continue intervening in favor of the energy renovation of private and public housing parks for more than 2.8 million euros.
I also confirm that in 2018 we will continue to honor our commitments in the Urban Renewal National Agency’s program, which were previously contractualized.
Social policy:
The NOTRe law is very clear on social policy, this competence is a Department competence!
Thus, it is up to the Departmental Councils to fund the operation of social centers and insertion workshops.
However, in order not to abandon social centers, we chose to leave them the possibility for 2018 to respond to the Region’s calls for projects on specific actions addressing our priorities.
As for the insertion workshops, we are proceeding with a gradual disengagement by next year.
Concerning the city contracts, we will no longer fund them in 2018 as they are mere administrative burdens.
Urban policy, social policy, we do it every day in our common law competences.
By subsidizing cultural associations in urban political districts, we are doing urban policy without having to go through city contracts!
It is the same for sports associations.
Three political priorities:
Economy and Employment
Education
Environment
1) Economy and Employment:
Our priority is to make our territory attractive to attract businesses and win the battle for employment.
We thus broke down the wall that had been erected between businesses and the Region.
Our economic policy is made with businesses and for businesses!
From the outset of our mandate, we have created tools that we are strengthening this year.
I am especially thinking of:
Investment funds for Regional Companies
It allows us to support our SMEs by backing their innovative projects or temporarily entering their capital when they are in difficulty.
In 2018, we increased our investment fund capital to 300 million euros, a 15% increase compared to 2017.
Thanks to FIER, we have already supported more than 3,000 companies with 30 million euros of regional funds.
This tool also allowed us to mobilize nearly 30 million euros of European funds, and we are negotiating with Brussels to mobilize 20 additional ones.
Regional Interest Operations
Three key figures: 1 billion euros in investment, 50,000 jobs, 500 new companies set up on the territory.
+13.5% for RIOs
A budget multiplied by five and a half for upgrading the one-stop shop.
300,000 euros for launching a new initiative “a mentor a job.”
34% on the Smart Région projects to confirm the Provence-Alpes-Côte D’Azur’s leading position among Europe’s Smart Regions.
13 million euros for very high-speed internet deployment throughout the territory, thanks to the firepower of our Provence-Alpes-Côte-D’azur Very High-Speed Mixed Syndicate.
2) Education:
1 million young people are in training in our region.
400,000 of them (high school students, apprentices…) depend directly on our community.
Our objective: to offer an educational environment of excellence in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur by providing optimal teaching conditions for our children.
High schools: An operating budget of nearly 110 million euros in 2018, a 4% increase compared to 2017.
The major evolution concerns the Region’s support to private high schools under State association contracts + 1.5 million euros.
We chose to support private education, which is a first for our institution.
Throughout the mandate, we will invest 1.2 billion euros in our high schools to improve the quality of life of our students and teaching teams by renovating the establishments, modernizing the canteens, and making our boarding schools more comfortable!
In 2018, we will invest nearly 130 million euros in our high schools!
For example, 8 million euros in 2018 to further strengthen the security of our establishments and 40 million euros over the full mandate.
Significant investments in ongoing projects:
Chateaurenard High School: 28 million euros will be allocated in 2018.
Allauch High School: 13.5 million euros will be allocated in 2018.
International school complex in Marseille, a project I initiated when I was Deputy President of the Region: 500,000 euros will be allocated in 2018 before significant investments in 2019.
33 high schools will be renovated (out of 181) in 2018 for amounts exceeding 3 million euros.
Examples of high schools refitted in 2018:
§ Charles de Gaulle in Apt (3.7 million euros).
§ Paul Langevin in Martigues (4.3 million euros).
§ Joliot Curie in Aubagne (2.8 million euros).
§ Raynouard in Brignoles (2.7 million euros).
Rewarding merit:
We have generalized merit scholarships for all holders of the “Very Good” mention in the baccalauréat.
I am very attached to republican merit, and it was fundamental for me to restore this injustice imposed by the Socialist Government of Mr. Hollande.
Training/apprenticeship:
Objectives: 50,000 apprentices by the end of the mandate.
-1998: 29,000 apprentices
-2015: 27,500
-End of 2017: 32,500
We have stopped the hemorrhage and started to increase the number of apprentices in our region again.
If we have achieved these results, it is because we have concentrated significant means and will increase them further in 2018.
Apprenticeship budget:
Operating + 7% or 111 million euros.
Investment + 41% or 42 million euros (including 10 million euros to finance Campus A).
Note: the apprenticeship budget is 153 million euros.
It is therefore higher than the fraction of the apprenticeship tax we receive (110 million euros).
Thus demonstrating our strong political will!
29 million euros to help businesses hire apprentices.
To reach the target of 50,000 apprentices at the end of the mandate and to continue developing our apprenticeship offer, I tell the Government, we must remain masters of this skill!
We do it naturally with the professional branches, but there needs to be a pilot in the plane. This pilot is the Region.
Training:
To sustainably reduce unemployment, job seekers must be trained according to business needs. It is common sense, but it was not applied.
When we were elected, the employment return rate from professional training was 48%!
We set an ambitious goal for training organizations: achieve a 70% employment return rate to benefit from regional funding.
We also stopped funding training that did not meet job market needs like ETAPS. Their employment return rate was too low.
Today, this goal is about to be achieved, as we have reached a 58% employment return rate.
Political point:
The professional training budget is indeed down -13.6 million (-10%) from last year.
This decrease is very simple to explain.
In 2016, the Hollande Government saturated the training offer with its 500,000 plan at 1 billion euros because it was not able to coordinate with the Regions so that the Pôle emploi training plan and the Regions’ plan did not overlap.
The current Government is planning a 14 billion euros training plan… So we chose to be cautious and wait to see more clearly and for the Government to clarify its intentions.
If this clarification took place and the need arose, we could naturally consider a supplementary budget for professional training.
Aid for first equipment: 3.5 million euros in individual aid for health and social training
The budget is increasing in 2018 by 3% to 103 million euros (or +3 million euros).
Distribution of regional scholarships and payment of remuneration for professional training interns: 63 million euros.
Environment: A Step Ahead COP!
Ecology at the service of the economy: it is the great ambition of our mandate!
We want to make our Region the national engine for climate agreements by having a Step Ahead COP!
We will therefore be the 1st European Region to comply with the COP 21 agreements and implement the UN’s global environmental pact.
To be heard and understood, one must be exemplary!
To implement our political will, we have chosen, as of this 2018 budget, to allocate significant financial resources to our climate plan.
1) A considerable budgetary effort:
Starting 2018, more than 20% of our intervention budget, or nearly 400 million euros, will be dedicated to green economy and sustainable job creation.
By the end of the mandate, this portion of the budget will exceed 30%.
As a reminder, in 2015, the last full fiscal year under Michel Vauzelle’s red, pink, green majority, this share was 14%.
2) 100 concrete actions serving territories around five major axes:
Eco-mobility: 200 million euros devoted in 2018 to eco-mobility and the development of public transport.
I asked the Prime Minister, during our meeting two weeks ago, that we be allowed to experiment with an eco-tax on transit heavy trucks (about 800,000 per year).
Installation of an electric station every 100 km by the end of the mandate to charge clean vehicles.
The only Region to have removed a tax, that on clean vehicles, introduced by the red, pink, green majority.
Carbon neutrality: 50% reduction in polluting energy consumption in Provence-Alpes-Côte D’azur.
Within 3 years, 30% of our schools will be covered with photovoltaic panels, allowing a 20% energy savings.
Note: photovoltaic sector = potential for 415,000 jobs by 2050.
A growth driver: 120,000 jobs are directly linked to the sea in Provence-Alpes-Côte D’azur, 40% of the yacht sector is located in the region…
30% of the region’s 300 million euros investment fund put in place by the new majority will be dedicated to funding environmentally friendly projects and innovative startups in the green tech sector.
A natural heritage to preserve:
Provence-Alpes-Côte D’azur: 1st region no plastic by 2030.
Partnership with private groups like Suez to improve upstream waste sorting and clean the sea beds.
Living well in Provence-Alpes-Côte D’azur: over 70% of the region’s inhabitants are environmentally aware. 60% of them believe they must be the primary actors in economic development.
Setting up a well-being barometer that will allow communication on existing indicators and observatories to assess the state of territories.
Conclusion:
To summarize our 2018 budget, I would say it is a budget meeting a triple requirement: Proximity, Action, and Responsibility!
Proximity: we improve the living environment and quality life of 5 million Provençals, Alpines, and Azuréens by investing in our transport, our schools, and our local economy through our network of SMEs and small businesses.
=> We will achieve results within 3 years.
Action: we act to set up long-term projects.
=> We have a 20-year vision.
With the climate plan, we will be a step ahead COP! It will allow us to transmit a sustainable world to our children.
Responsibility: we respond to an extremely strong financial constraint imposed by the Government.
Balancing the 2018 budget was a challenge, and we can be proud to have met it without sacrificing our project and political priorities.
It required courage, making difficult decisions, but we assume those decisions.
And before finishing, I want to tell you this budget, we manage to balance it and finance all our political priorities thanks to Europe!
Europe, I often say, is our 13th month!
It represents 2 billion euros of European funds over the term.
=> The equivalent of an additional budget exercise.
=> It is proof, if needed, that Europe works when you know how to use it.
I could give thousands of examples. I’ll give just one.
I am very happy to announce that we brilliantly won the European project on waste: Smart Waste Provence-Alpes-Côte D’azur.
The project’s ambition is to implement the regional waste plan and finance sorting centers, waste disposal sites thanks to 10 million euros of European aid to steer waste management towards an economy…
