Livret A: A Proposed Cap of 30,000 Euros to Support Climate Action
The Minister of Ecological Transition has proposed raising the Livret A savings account limit from 22,950 to 30,000 euros to finance climate change adaptation. The Cercle de l’Épargne points out what the last increase, in 2012–2013, led to: a rush to open these accounts and costly trade-offs for both life insurance companies and banks.
The figure has been circulating for the past few days at the Hôtel de Roquelaure: 30,000 euros. Tasked by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with presenting a five-year financing plan by the end of September, Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut raised the possibility of raising the Livret A deposit limit from 22,950 to 30,000 euros. According to the Cercle de l’Épargne, the Caisse des Dépôts has reportedly welcomed the idea.
Matignon and Bercy have yet to make a decision.
The goal is simple: to boost the resources of the Savings Fund, which centralizes 60% of Livret A deposits, in order to lend more and for longer terms to local governments. Renovating schools and public buildings to withstand heat waves, water infrastructure, fire prevention, and protection against climate risks—the list of projects is long. At the end of 2025, the Savings Fund managed 453.3 billion euros and had 244.9 billion euros in outstanding loans. Of the 41.7 billion lent in 2025, 15.7 billion was already allocated to the ecological transition.
A cap that has been frozen since 2013
Philippe Crevel, director of the Cercle de l’Épargne, places the proposal within a long history. Set at 15,000 francs in 1966, the cap was raised numerous times in the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 100,000 francs on November 1, 1991—at the time to finance social rental housing. The transition to the euro converted it to 15,300 euros in 2002. It did not change again until 2012, when François Hollande fulfilled his campaign promise in two stages: 19,125 euros as of October 1, 2012, then 22,950 euros as of January 1, 2013—a 50% increase in three months. Raising it to 30,000 euros today would represent a 30.7% increase.
There has been no indexation since 2013. However, the price index from INSEE (the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) rose from 83.21 in 2013 to 100 in 2025—an increase of just over 20 percent. Maintaining the 2013 cap in constant euros would have brought it to approximately 27,600 euros. Viewed from this perspective, notes the Cercle de l’Épargne, a cap of 30,000 euros represents a real—albeit modest—increase.
The Lesson from 2012: The Cap Matters More Than the Interest Rate
What Would Happen? The 2012–2013 episode serves as a guide. That year, net inflows into the Livret A savings account reached 28.16 billion euros, compared to 17.38 billion in 2011. When combined with the LDD (sustainable development savings account), whose deposit limit had been doubled at the same time, the two products had attracted nearly 49.2 billion euros. In October 2012 alone, more than 21 billion poured in, and the trend continued into early 2013: 21 billion over the first four months, according to the Banque de France, with 12.14 billion in net deposits for the Livret A alone over the course of the year.
Even more telling: in the first quarter of 2013, deposits remained strong even though the interest rate on the Livret A savings account had just fallen from 2.25% to 1.75%. The trend only reversed after the rate dropped to 1.25% in August. In other words, raising the deposit limit had a greater short-term impact than the interest rate itself. Today, the Livret A pays 1.7%, while euro-denominated life insurance funds are expected to yield between 2.8% and 2.9% by 2026.
Where does the money come from in times like these? In 2012–2013, households drew on their checking accounts, taxable savings accounts, and life insurance policies. The Council on Compulsory Levies noted the coincidence between record inflows into Livret A savings accounts and outflows from life insurance policies, even though the latter were primarily due to the sovereign debt crisis. The potential is there: according to the Bank of France, 15% of Livret A accounts had already exceeded the ceiling by 2025, and these accounts accounted for 47% of the total outstanding balance. The Cercle de l’Épargne estimates the potential at 10 billion euros in additional outstanding balances.
The downside is a loss of tax revenue for the government—which varies depending on the source of the funds—and a reduction in funding for banks, which would see a portion of their taxable savings accounts and time deposits migrate elsewhere. Philippe Crevel also points out a contradiction: France and the European Commission want to channel savings toward long-term corporate financing through life insurance, the PEA (stock savings plan), or the PER (retirement savings plan).
Boosting regulated savings works in the opposite direction. And by the end of 2025, the Savings Fund already had more than 200 billion euros in financial assets in addition to its loans. Philippe Crevel concludes that financing climate adaptation is hindered less by the volume of available savings than by the challenge of identifying profitable projects.
