Back to the 2nd edition of the FMI Days on March 12

The Journées de l'IGF are the annual public event showcasing the work of the Inspection générale des Finances. For this second edition, on the theme "Spend less, spend better?", leading figures discussed the issue of public expenditure management.

The aim? To gain a better understanding of how to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of this expenditure without compromising the quality of public action, and to examine the role and methods of expenditure reviews in achieving this.

In her opening remarks, Catherine Sueur, head of the Inspection générale des finances , reminded us that "making savings is not easy, but the IGF is convinced that by basing savings measures on objective findings, by sharing our work with stakeholders and by keeping in mind the aims of public policies, we can contribute to spending less and spending better! "

The debate between Valérie Rabault and Thierry Breton highlighted the political nature of cost-cutting decisions and the essential need to work on their acceptability, as well as the importance of the European scale for competitiveness and energy.

The round-table discussion shed light on the challenges of reconciling the short and long term. Budget director Mélanie Joder pointed out that the timeframe for reform often extends beyond the single budget year, and emphasized the potential for savings in all areas of public spending. François Durovray highlighted the need for simplification and investment to improve spending, and Xavier Ragot stressed the need to move away from the nonsense of increasing debt by dealing directly with long-term issues.

Paolo Gentiloni expressed his confidence in the European Union's ability to react to the danger of economic and geopolitical uncertainty , and recalled that the increase in debt made it all the more difficult to reduce it.

Amélie de Montchalin concluded the event by reiterating her intention to open the doors of Bercy to a wider debate on our nation's finances, and by emphasizing the usefulness of expenditure reviews in producing a shared diagnosis of public policy objectives and tools. The Minister presented her objectives for the preparation of the 2026 budget, supporting a method combining consultation and transparency.

These exchanges shed new light on the IGF's work, demonstrating the usefulness of expenditure reviews and enabling us to return to and discuss the methodology, as well as specific missions on brown tax expenditures, absenteeism in the civil service, aid to businesses, etc. Bringing our work to life, presenting our findings and methods, and above all feeding debates and public action: the objectives of this day of debate were achieved!

Thank you to our speakers, whose sharing of experiences and points of view shed valuable light on the issue of public spending. Thank you to the many of you who came to discuss these issues!