Representative employers’ organizations welcomed Gabriel Attal’s general policy speech on Tuesday evening, its “voluntarist” and “offensive” tone, some however putting forward some caveats or concerns.
Work “pays better than inactivity”
The president of Medef Patrick Martin, in a reaction to AFP, “welcomed the voluntarism and concern for efficiency of the Prime Minister, who took into account a certain number (of) expectations” of his organization. “We will act to ensure that this policy translates quickly and concretely into growth, and therefore job creation, whatever the sector of activity,” he added. It seems that Medef wishes to consult its members before going into more detail, particularly those in the housing sector, for which Gabriel Attal has set out various measures.
The Confederation of SMEs (CPME) indicated that it “shares the concern” of the Prime Minister who wants work to “pay better than inactivity”. However, she warns against the establishment of a universal time savings account (CETU) which “risks being a social burden unsuitable for the reality of small businesses”. She welcomed “the awareness of the deep crisis facing the real estate sector”, asking for “radical measures to revive” this sector.
The confederation estimated in a press release that “wanting to ‘rhyme growth and climate’ was going in the right direction”, but hoped that companies would be given “the means and time necessary to adapt to the changes imposed by the decarbonization of the economy. On the other hand, she judged that “the question of the deficit and the weight of the public debt seemed relegated to the background”, and that the announced generalization of the four-day week in administrations “does not bode well for a real desire to act in this domain”.
For its part, the U2P (Union of Local Businesses) welcomed an “offensive speech”, testifying to “strong ambition and real determination”. It will “support” orientations in favor of work, the retirement rights of self-employed workers, or simplification. But it “warns of the desire to entrust each company with the task of negotiating the most appropriate rules”. “A small business is not equipped for this and on the contrary needs to refer to the rules defined by the professional sector,” she adds, also worrying about the desire to deregulate certain professions, such as trustees. The U2P advocates “close consultation with the professions concerned”.