Deputies and senators reached an agreement on Wednesday evening August 3 on the second part of measures in favor of purchasing power, said parliamentary sources. To be definitively validated, the text will be put to the vote one last time, Thursday, in the National Assembly at 3 p.m. then in the Senate at 5 p.m.
This amended draft budget for 2022, which was under discussion in a joint joint committee (7 deputies, 7 senators), opens up 44 billion euros in credits, including 9.7 to finance the 100% renationalization of EDF. Also scheduled are the revaluation of the index point for civil servants, the continuation of the tariff shield on energy and the fuel discount of 30 cents per liter in September-October then 10 cents in November-December, among others.
Between the presidential majority and the right, common ground was found on Wednesday, after nearly two hours of discussions, in particular on the controversial subject of the possible monetization of RTTs that the Senate wanted to perpetuate. This purchase, on the part of voluntary companies, of the RTTs of employees ready to work more will finally be possible until the end of 2025.
Compromise on the exceptional back-to-school bonus
Regarding the exceptional back-to-school bonus, which the Senate, dominated by the right, wanted to reserve for low-income workers and not for social minima – which sparked an outcry on the left – a compromise was also made. The bonus of 100 euros will be paid to the beneficiaries of the minima and also to those receiving the activity bonus, the total envelope allocated being increased from 1 to 1.1 billion.
For the success of the joint commission, the president of the Republican senators Bruno Retailleau had posed as a condition the maintenance of another addition of the Senate in favor of the establishment of a biometric Vitale card. This was the case, with the aim of combating fraud.
Finally, concerning aid to communities, a subject dear to the Chamber of Territories, an envelope increased to 600 million euros has been validated.
“The debate was constructive but difficult because we were keen on our public deficit target” by 5% in 2022 and “it is easier for some to want to add measures”declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP) the general rapporteur of the budget in the Assembly, Jean-René Cazeneuve (Renaissance).
Parliamentary break
The Republicans “have advanced their main demands: lower fuel prices, better pay for work, strengthen the fight against social fraud”welcomed for her part the deputy Véronique Louwagie on Twitter.
This text completes a first part definitively adopted on Wednesday and including the tripling of the ceiling of the Macron bonus that can be paid by employers, the 4% increase in retirement pensions and several allowances, as well as the “deconjugalization” disabled adult allowance.
The polls on Thursday will mark the break in work until the start of the school year, after a summer marathon of three weeks on these measures taken in the face of galloping inflation (+ 6.1% in July over one year after INSEE), which had been a major subject of the presidential campaign.