What the French Constitutional Council really ruled.
The Constitutional Council of France ruled that since the
French income tax is based on the Household, and not the Individual, the
proposed plan to raise the tax rate on an “Individual’s” income rather than a
“Household’s” income was unconstitutional, no matter at what rate or income
level. The ruling by the French
Constitutional Court was very narrow in scope and terse. Not the broad sweeping rebuke that it is
being played up in the press.
Had President Hollande and his ministers proposed changes to
the French Tax code had read that “Households” with income greater than 1
Million Euro would be subject to this new rate rather than “Individuals” it
would have been very interesting on what the ruling would have been. French politics just like all politics are a
weird form of Kabuki Theater.
President Hollande has the Council to blame for this set
back. The narrow scope and terse ruling of the council is an attempt to deny cover
to the President. The ruling also
attempts to highlight the apparent ineptness of the President and his
ministers, after all they have been out of power since 1995, and President
Hollande prior to his election as President only held office at the local level
or as a deputy in the National Assembly, never as a Minister or even as Junior
Minister, although he was party secretary.
To paraphrase Chief Inspector Captain Louis Renault “I am
shocked, shocked to find that one of my trusted and able ministers could have
made such an error”
Some individual speculated that he was sabotaged by members
of his own party in the legislature, in that no one really know how the verbiage
of the bill came to read “Individuals” versus “Households”. But I am sure that the usual suspects are
being collected at this time to determine how a blunder of this magnitude
occurred, and I am sure that the appropriate innocent party or parties will be
punished.
The best news for the President Hollande and the
Constitutional Council is that all of this occurred between Christmas and New
Years, and pretty much everyone in France has other things to occupy their time
and attention (Family and Parties).
Since I do not believe in coincidence I believe that the timing of the
ruling was not a coincidence for both parties.
After all everyone has to look like they are busy doing their respective
jobs.
Based on the ruling it would be a simple matter for the
President Hollande to have the measure corrected to insure that it applies to
“Households” and have it presented for approval by the National Assembly and
the Senate, and resubmitted to the Constitutional Council for a ruling as
required by law. After all his party
does hold a majority in the Assembly (295 of 577) and pretty sizable block in
the Senate (132 of 348).
But the deputies are a fickle lot, and have been known to be
unruly, and just how beholding they are to the President Hollande is
questionable who is not to say that another small slight change to text might not
slip into the legislation and the cycle starts again, after all it is France.
President Hollande power is limited at this point in time to
persuasion he cannot threaten their positions in the National Assembly or the
French Senate. The French Senate is even
more insulated from the power of the president in that these individual are
elected indirectly by grand electors who themselves are elected or appointed,
he would have to wait until this summer to disband the Assembly and call for
new elections, that pesky 12-month rule in the French Constitution. There is also a probability that his party
could be swept out of office just as dramatically as it was swept in to office,
after all the French people will have actually seen at least a years worth of
performance out of his government and the fragrance of the bloom may have faded
significantly, and he has yet to deliver the miracle.
At this time President Hollande is telling his supporter on
the left that he and his government tried and that they tried really hard to
make the rich pay, but the French Constitutional Council stood in their way. I suspect that the French Constitutional
Council will continue to stand in his way.
The French Constitutional Council is currently made up of 12
individuals who each serve for 9 years.
At least every three years three new members get appointed (Assembly,
Senate and President), plus any former Presidents may serve on the Court provided
that they are out of politics (What a crock).
In the case of this court President Hollande does not have that many
friends since most of the member if not all of the court were appoint by
pervious National Assemblies, Senates and Presidents (and they were all right
of center), and there three former Presidents of France currently setting in
the Court (Sarkozy, Chirac, and d’Estaing (all right of center). It is really great that the individual you just defeated for office gets to sit on the council that determines whether laws are constitutional or not, is this a great system or what? Talk about sabotage.
The Constitutional Council of France is like the tail of a
kite, in that it’s makeup will always be slightly out of step with the National
Assembly and the current administration.
It function is to act as a brake, to force change to take place at a
slower pace. The Constitution Council of
France is stacked against him, hence the ruling, and it limited scope, and
tenor.
Get ready for Round 2. The judges have rule the first round to the loyal opposition.
Although it rained late on New Years Eve in Paris, there is nothing like it (The Food, The Wine, The People) anywhere else in the world, even with the rain.
