Editorial

For the attention of the (new) Members

of Parliament: public finance is at the heart

of your decisions!

 

“Taking a stance on community affairs” requires an “understanding of the issue at hand and the ability to grasp what is at stake”[1]. While the council makes sense and may concern everyone, implementing it is not straightforward when it comes to matters that concern public finance. For a large part of the population, the inner-workings and challenges of public finance are considered particularly opaque and difficult to decipher. This subject is often met with people jumping to conclusions, with simplistic views that reveal the most outdated ideological assumptions repeated year after year. In general, public finance suffers from a negative or even daunting portrayal that creates an obstacle to being understood not only by citizens but also by lessexperienced representatives.

 

Indeed the matter is not simple. Composed of particularly entangled processes within which a great variety of national and international factors interact, public finance forms a complex arrangement and therefore a system that is not easily controlled. Yet another reason why it is imperative that all elected officials in charge of public matters take an interest. It is just as important that public financial governance does not limit itself to separately treating the various components of the public financial system. It is important to recognize that economic, legal and political analyses as well as managers continue to proliferate without any broad-based debate, in other words without considering the underlying issues that encompass all of the components that are at stake with the goal of developing a project, a direction for the public finance of tomorrow and consequently for the society of tomorrow. This flaw is extremely detrimental not only from an economic but also a political and social point of view especially in terms of the quality of life of future generations.

 

However the need to invent innovative public financial governance and consequently to invent a new State also depends on educating citizens[2] and developing a “collective intelligence” or even “intelligence networks. Because institutional creation is only possible by increasing and sharing knowledge[3]. The transformation of contemporary society is part of the booming knowledge-based economy, i.e. an economy in which knowledge, know-how, skills and creativity are essential.

 

Members of Parliament, you have taken on a world which is built on a long-term path of movement, uncertainty and continuous reform. Accordingly, your ability to face the complex challenge of interpreting, organising and controlling increasingly entangled phenomena requires support from a network embodying diverse knowledge. This will represent a fundamental challenge. In this framework, it is also necessary to reinvent the public financial system, reimagining it from the current context[4] towards a world in transition.

 

As a step in this direction, it is first the political character of public finance that must be understood. It represents the core and substance of political powers by determining power and change. More broadly, public finance always reflects the choices of society. Present everywhere, its organisation and rules hold considerable influence on the day-to-day life of both individuals and businesses. At the heart of all major questions on contemporary society, public finance is decisive for democracy and for addressing people’s needs. The quality of the social contract is at the forefront of public finance.

 

This is why you as Members of Parliament, with your skills and knowledge of public finance are the key to ensuring its sustainability.

 

 

Michel Bouvier



[1] Weil E., Philosophie politique (Political philosophy), Vrin, 1985 (4th edition).

[2] See conferences, symposiums, publications and films by FONDAFIP (www.fondafip.org).

[3] See major public finance challenges on Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michel+bouvier

[4] See Bouvier M., Esclassan M.-C., Lassale J.-P., Manuel de Finances publiques, (Public finance manual) 15th ed., 2017, LGDJ-Lextenso. See also Bouvier M., “Repenser et reconstruire les finances publiques de demain” (Rethinking and rebuilding the public finance of tomorrow) in Réformes des finances publiques, démocratie et bonne gouvernance (Public finance reform, democracy and good governance) (under the supervision of Bouvier M.), LGDJ, 2004.

RFFP n°139 - Summary

Editorial: For the attention of the (new) Members of Parliament: public

finance is at the heart of your decisions!, by Michel Bouvier........................ IX

• MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS: WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES?

Opening statement, by Gilles Johanet.............................................................. 3

Opening statement, by Bruno Parent................................................................ 9

Opening statement, by Christian Guicheteau.................................................. 13

Public financial responsibility faced with a budgetary system in transition,

by Michel Bouvier............................................................................................. 17

REVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

The legal model of financial responsibility: from the differences between

legal systems in France, Portugal and Italy to concerns over common

issues, by Emma Chenillat................................................................................ 23

Financial jurisdictions and public fund managers, by Jean-Louis Heuga..... 33

How public accountants face more effective accountability in an increasingly

restrictive context in terms of their resources?, by Laurent Rose-Hano........ 39

Insurers versus the Regulatory avalanche, by Arnaud Chneiweiss................. 47

NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES

What areas of reflection?, by Didier Maupas.................................................. 55

The role of public accountants in the certification of accounts, by Jean

Gilles Hoarau.................................................................................................... 61

THE CONDITIONS FOR BALANCING THE LIABILITY REGIME

Balancing the liability regime in question, by Pierre Louis Mariel................ 69

The Court of Auditor’s assessment on the conditions of an informed

application of the personal and pecuniary liability regime in an effort to

find or maintain an administrative and financial balance?, by Gilles Miller. 75

Striking a balance. The personal and pecuniary liability of public

accountants, by Henry-Michel Crucis.............................................................. 87

Management of public funds: what responsibilities?, by Lionel Le Gall........ 95

• SPECIAL REPORT

The tax, accounting and budget system of the United States

Interviews by Professor Michel Lascombe and Aurélien Baudu, with the

help of Annabel Le Moal.................................................................................. 99

• TAXATION

Revision of rental values of business premises (RVLLP): a progressive and

pragmatic reform, by Gradzig El Karoui, Anne-Laure Lagadec et Isabelle

Vilaplana........................................................................................................... 145

From deterritorialisation to a-territorialisation of taxation: corporate

income tax in relation to the digital revolution, by Laure-Alice Bouvier....... 165

• LOCAL FINANCIAL GOVERNANCE

Local public finance, strong points for national economic policy. A historical

perspective (1975-2015), by Jean-Michel Uhaldeborde.................................. 191

Monitoring reports related to the external control of accounts and the

management of local authorities in the European Union, by Rudy Chouvel....... 205

• HISTORY OF PUBLIC FINANCE

The French Revolution and public debt, by Benoît Jean-Antoine.................. 219

• COMPARATIVE ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETARY

GOVERNANCE

The public finance reforms in Morocco, interview with Noureddine

Bensouda........................................................................................................... 241

• BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. – Publication summaries, by Gilbert Orsini and Jean-François Boudet.... 253

II. – Recent publications................................................................................... 259

×