Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire during a press conference following the Council of Ministers at the Elysée, April 24, 2024 in Paris (AFP/Ludovic MARIN)
“Balzac”, “Kafka” and “Ubu” against the 21st century: the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire presented Wednesday in the Council of Ministers a plan aimed at ridding businesses of “red tape”, notably via a new bulletin salary.
After Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who presented on Tuesday measures to “debureaucratize” the administration for individuals, Mr. Le Maire revealed on Wednesday how the State was going to help “tired, exasperated” small business and SME bosses. by administrative tasks to which they devote “on average eight hours per week”, the equivalent of three points of GDP per year.
There are 400,000 applicable standards in France, the eight main codes have 23,000 pages… compared to 828 in 1833, and businesses and administrations send each other 253 million letters each year, highlights Bercy.
For small bosses, “we are sometimes at Kafka”, remarked the Minister of Business, Olivia Grégoire.
Hence this “action plan: simplification!”, in 50 measures, half of which will be the subject of a bill discussed from June 3 in the Senate.
It includes some measures also applying to individuals; a possible future simplified pay slip, which should go from 55 to 15 lines, or penalties for insurers who do not respect compensation deadlines.
Mr. Le Maire also announced the elimination of the 1,800 Cerfa administrative forms by 2030, including 80% by 2026. This as part of a “tell us once” philosophy, to avoid multiplying the communication of the same documents to several administrations.
He also announced “a complete review” over three years of the 2,500 administrative authorizations. The obligation for the employer to send sick leave to Social Security is removed.
Public procurement, “which obeys rules worthy of Balzac”, will also be simplified, with the submission of all public calls for tenders on a single platform, Place, in 2027.
– “Fright” –
Mr. Le Maire confirmed the institution of an “SME test”, to assess the impact of new standards for small and medium-sized businesses, before their application.
“Some bosses say they are scared because they made a mistake, but there is no reason to be afraid of the administration,” he observed.
He thus announced that the ruling, the possibility of asking the tax authorities to rule on this or that point, in order to avoid subsequent problems, would be extended to other administrations such as the General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Affairs, and fraud prevention (DGCCRF) or Customs.
“Always in this logic of trust”, prison sentences provided for certain declaratory failures will be abolished, in favor of less severe sanctions. “Business leaders are not potential bandits,” said Mr. Le Maire.
While the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure observed “that Ubu is still somewhat king in our country”, Mr. Le Maire unveiled special simplification measures for industrialists.
In particular, “large industrial projects will no longer have to organize a debate under the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP)” and environmental compensation for projects will be able to be carried out “within a reasonable time”, and no longer immediately.
However, he opposed “angrily” the idea that Bercy would thus backtrack on ecology.
Finally, each year, a new review of “useless or too burdensome” measures will be organized. Public Service Minister Stanislas Guerini assured of the administration’s “commitment to implementing the plan over the long term.”
The bosses reacted rather well to the plan: “I want to believe in it,” François Asselin, president of the CPME, told AFP, “because it seems that Bercy has brought the entire administration on board” on this project.
Medef for its part “supports the spirit” of the text, which nevertheless “does not exhaust the entire simplification project”.
The first employers’ union, however, warned against “conflicting signals”, referring to the transposition in France of complex European directives such as the CSRD and the duty of vigilance, or the agreement reached on Tuesday on the Universal Time Savings Account (Cetu) between another organization, the U2P, and unions.
© 2024 AFP
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