Tactical retreat or real mess? The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced on Tuesday January 2, on Franceinfo, to reconsider the possibility of reducing by 40% the duration of compensation for jobseekers when the unemployment rate falls below the 6% mark of the active population. A measure included in the draft decree on unemployment insurance sent to the social partners on December 23, 2022.
“We wanted to be transparent by displaying all the situations and the rules that would apply, including if the unemployment rate drops below 6%”, said Elisabeth Borne. The draft decree in question is linked to the law on the “functioning of the labor market”, which was published, Thursday, December 21, 2022, at Official newspaper. The text plans to modulate the number of days during which a job seeker receives an allowance, depending on the unemployment rate. A principle of “countercyclicality” promised by Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign.
But, until December 23, the measure retained in the reform and presented to the social partners was the application of a “reducing coefficient” of 0.75 resulting in a 25% reduction in the duration of benefits for new unemployed from the 1er February, if the unemployment rate is below 9%, as it is now, at 7.3%. During the press conference following the presentation of the reform, on November 21, 2022, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, had mentioned the hypothesis of a greater reduction if full employment, around 5% unemployment, was reached. But neither the 6% rate nor the 40% drop had been mentioned.
Final talks on pension reform
The Ministry of Labour, which rejects any idea of “turn on the wing”ensures that the decision to withdraw this part of the decree was taken after discussions between Olivier Dussopt and the Prime Minister. “I hear that this point may not have been discussed enough, so we will withdraw it, this third level of the decree which will come into force on the 1er February, and we will put this subject back in the consultation on the future rules of unemployment insurance ”said Elisabeth Borne.
While the Prime Minister receives the social partners on Tuesday January 3 and Wednesday January 4 for final discussions on the pension reform, which must be presented on Tuesday January 10, this poisoned gift on Christmas Eve had been particularly badly received by the unions. Both in form and in substance. While they obviously welcomed the government’s retreat, they nevertheless refrained from any enthusiasm. “The worst is yet to come at 1er February with the 25% reduction in the duration of compensation, which does not change”recalls Denis Gravouil, who manages the file at the CGT. “It is a good thing that the government is withdrawing this provision, completes Marylise Léon, number two of the CFDT. But the fact that it was taken by surprise in this way shows that either it was DIY or they didn’t want to tell us everything. »
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