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Analysing the budgetary constraint on the state means clearing up a misunderstanding. First, whether we look at it from a judicial or economic viewpoint, such a constraint seems in large part virtual, a fact that is demonstrated by the upward trend of the current level of public debt. Yet, the desire to restore a balanced budget to guarantee the sustainability of public finances has led the state to implement, consistently, a policy of public spending control. So, the existence of a long term budgetary constraint justifies the exercise of a short term budgetary constraint whose effects are real.