Special account in France – Wikipedia

In French budgetary law, a special account Traces from the state revenues allocated to certain expenses. The special accounts are separated from the general state budget, but their creation and the credits assigned to them are voted in the finance law.

Before 2001, the 1959 ordinance which defined the regime of finance laws already rigorously framed the creation of special accounts, in order to avoid the emergence of budgets not subject to the control of the Parliament. During the debates relating to organic law relating to finance laws (LOLF), the National Assembly wished to remove these special accounts in the name of the principle of budgetary unity, but they were maintained by the Senate in order to avoid withdrawn corresponding expenses in the field of finance laws ^{[ first ]} .

The creation of special accounts falls under the field of the finance law. However, some special accounts are mentioned in the LOLF and cannot therefore be deleted by an ordinary finance law: the management account of state participations (article 21) and the debt and cash management account of the state (article 22) ^{[ 2 ]} .

A special account constitutes a budgetary mission. Consequently, only the government, not parliamentarians, can create one by application of the rules of admissibility of the amendments defined by article 40 of the Constitution ^{[ 3 ]} .

Article 20 of the LOLF prohibits allocating remuneration expenses to a special account. This does not apply to retirement pensions since these are subject to a special assignment account ^{[ 4 ]} .

Article 19 of the organic law relating to finance laws (LOLF) defines four special account categories.

Special assignment accounts [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Special assignment accounts (article 21 of the LOLF ^{[ 5 ]} ) retrace budgetary operations funded using specific revenue which are, by nature, in direct relation to the expenses concerned. This “direct relationship” is an important point of the compromise found between the National Assembly and the Senate during the debates relating to the LOLF and its existence is controlled by the Constitutional Council ^{[ 6 ]} .

In principle, payments from the general budget can only complete the revenue of a special assignment account only within the limit of 10% of the initial credits of this account. However, this limit does not apply to the account of the financial participations of the State, nor to that of pensions.

In the opposite direction, the revenues of a special assignment account cannot abound the general budget or an annexed budget, unless expressly provision of a finance law.

The budget for 2018 includes eleven special assignment accounts, with, in total, affected revenues of 78 billion and payment credits of 75.6 billion euros ^{[ 7 ] , [ 8 ]} :

• assistance in the acquisition of clean vehicles;
• traffic and road traffic control;
• agricultural and rural development;
• financing of communities aid for rural electrification;
• national financing for the development and modernization of learning;
• management of state real estate assets;
• Participation of France in the deset of Greece;
• State financial participations: This account traces operations related to financial holdings held indirectly by the State, via a company it holds, but not those resulting from the quotas it has in certain non-commercial international organizations such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank ^{[ 9 ]} ;
• Pensions: This account, created on the occasion of the LOLF, makes it possible to present the complete cost of the pensions of state agents, previously charged to the general budget in a little readable manner ^{[ ten ]} ;
• national passenger -contract transport services;
• energetic transition.

Trade accounts [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

A trade account (article 22 of the lolf ^{[ 11 ]} ) Traces of industrial and commercial operations carried out as an accessory basis by state services not endowed with legal personality.

It is therefore distinguished from an annexed budget, which concerns production activities or services carried out mainly by a state service.

Only the overdraft has a limiting character for a trade account. The activity of the account depending on the behavior of customers, parliamentary authorization in terms of expenditure can only include credits openings ^{[ twelfth ]} .

The budget for 2018 has nine commercial accounts with, in total, overdraft authorizations of 19.9 billion euros, including 19.2 billion for the sole management and cash flow management ^{[ 7 ] , [ 13 ]} :

• supply of the state and the armed forces to petroleum products, additional goods and services;
• canteen and work of detainees in the prison frame;
• State financial risks;
• industrial operations of state aeronautical workshops;
• Management of state debt and treasury: this account, explicitly mentioned by LOLF, allows the Treasury to more easily manage state debt than these activities should be traced in the general budget, for example by avoiding the application of the principle of non-contracting for revenue and expenses for certain purely financial operations of which only the balance is relevant ^{[ 14 ]} ;
• Launch of certain aeronautical equipment and certain complex armaments materials;
• commercial operations;
• industrial management of penal establishments;
• renewal of hydraulic concessions;
• financial support for foreign trade.

Monetary operations accounts [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Monetary operations accounts (article 23 of the LOLF ^{[ 15 ]} ) retrace revenue and monetary nature expenses.

Only the overdraft has a limiting character.

The budget for 2018 has three monetary operations accounts with, in total, overdraft authorizations of 250 million euros ^{[ 7 ] , [ 16 ]} :

• emission of metal currencies;
• operations with the International Monetary Fund;
• Exchange losses and benefits.

Financial competition accounts [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Financial competition accounts (article 24 of the LOLF ^{[ 17 ]} ) retrace, for each debtor or category of debtors, the loans and advances granted by the State.

The credits allocated to these accounts are limited, with the exception of the accounts opened for the benefit of foreign states and central banks linked to France by an international monetary agreement.

The budget for 2020 has six financial competition accounts with, in total, engagement authorizations of 128.9 billion and payment credits of 130 billion euros ^{[ 7 ] , [ 18 ]} :

• international monetary agreements;
• advances to various state services or organizations managing public services;
• advances to public audiovisual;
• advances to local authorities;
• loans to foreign states;
• Loans and advances to individuals or private organizations.

Notes and references [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Bibliography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Jean-Pierre Camby ( you. ), State budget reform: organic law relating to finance laws , Paris, LGDJ, 2011 , 422 p. (ISBN  978-2-275-03629-8 )

Related articles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Organic law n ^O 2001-692 of first ^is August 2001 relating to finance laws ( read online )
• Joël Giraud, Report n ^O 273 on the finance bill for 2018 , National Assembly, Finance Commission, 2018 ( read online )
• Budgets annexes (project the budget Pour 2011)