The central theme of the presidential and legislative campaigns, the “emergency measures” bill for purchasing power, the first part of the package of measures to deal with inflation, was definitively adopted on Wednesday August 3 at the National Assembly and then to the Senate. The text had been amended by the senators before a agreement in joint committee be found on Monday, three weeks after chaotic discussions in the National Assembly.
The challenge of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) resurfaced, during the solemn vote, with the filing of a motion of rejection beforehand by La France insoumise. “We can only reject a text of law which is unworthy, which prepares the French for deprivation and the renunciation of fundamental rights”strove to defend the deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis Aurélie Trouvou. “You should be ashamed to bring this motion of rejection”, retorted the centrist Bruno Millienne, who accused the left of not respecting the result of the conciliation carried out between senators and deputies. The motion was not supported by the socialist deputies, yet members of the Nupes, and the text was finally largely adopted, with 395 votes against 112. The Senate did the same, a few hours later, with 245 votes against 27, with 72 abstentions.
In addition to the amending finance bill for 2022, which was in turn to be the subject of a joint joint committee, Wednesday evening, the arsenal desired by the executive to fight against inflation includes 20 billion spending euros. On the work side, first, the text provides for the tripling of the ceiling of the “Macron bonus” : employers will be able to pay until December 31, 2023 an exceptional bonus of a maximum amount of 3,000 euros (or 6,000 euros, in the event of a profit-sharing agreement), exempt from income tax, contributions and social contributions for employees whose income is less than three times the value of the minimum wage. On the issue of overtime, companies with twenty to two hundred and fifty employees will be able to see their employers’ contributions reduced by 50 centimes per overtime worked. An initiative of the Les Républicains (LR) party, supported by the government.
The subject of deep disagreements concerning a possible alignment with inflation, the increase in retirement and disability pensions of the basic schemes by 4% was validated by parliamentarians, after a first automatic revaluation of 1.1% in January . Family allowances and social minima, such as the active solidarity income, the allowance for disabled adults (AAH), the solidarity allowance for the elderly and student grants issued on social criteria, are increased to the same level – some these social benefits had already increased by 1.8% in April. The measure will take effect on 1er July, retroactively.
Increased use of fossil fuels
The passage in the Senate has not changed the deconjugalization of the allowance for disabled adults, supported by the government in the Assembly. The payment of aid will no longer be calculated according to the number of tax shares in the household, which has made 270,000 people in couples – out of 1.2 million who receive the AAH – dependent on the income of their joint. The text provides for implementation on 1er October 2023.
However, the senators marked their passage on the text by extending the “rent shield”, a cap on the variation of the benchmark rent index at 3.5% from July 2022 to June 2023, to commercial rents for SMEs for one year. In addition, personalized housing assistance paid from 1er July will be revised in advance.
The procedures for online termination of contracts have also been simplified: all companies must provide their customers with a “cancel button” access to which must be “easy, direct and permanent” to terminate a contract, if it was concluded by an electronic procedure or if such a service exists at the time of termination. The penal sanctions incurred in the event of a misleading or abusive commercial practice, once it is followed by the conclusion of a contract, have also been strengthened.
The bill on purchasing power includes several measures to deal with the fear of a stoppage of Russian gas deliveries to Europe, allowing increased use of fossil fuels. A legal framework to restart next winter the coal-fired power plant of Saint-Avold (Moselle), closed in March, has been adopted. The text makes it possible to raise the ceilings for greenhouse gas emissions in the event of “threat to security of electricity supply” and on the condition of offsetting emissions. Exemptions and administrative simplifications have also been approved to accelerate the commissioning, in September 2023, of a floating LNG terminal in the port of Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), in order to diversify gas supply sources .