Social partners officially invited to negotiate on unemployment insurance reform

"We propose to the trade union and employer organisations representing the national and interprofessional level to immediately resume a cycle of discussions on these issues," the minister wrote to the number one organisations in this letter, initially revealed by Les Echos.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced in his general policy statement that he intended to give back control to the social partners on these issues.

"I invite you to conduct these discussions as soon as possible, as the current unemployment insurance rules expire (...) on October 31," the letter continues. The minister specifies that a decree extending the current rules will be published before the end of October "in order to avoid any legal vacuum," but stresses that it is "essential" that the negotiation takes place "quickly."

According to union sources, this extension decree should run until December 31. Knowing that it takes six weeks for the agreement to be approved, the social partners would have until mid-November to negotiate.

Ms Panosyan-Bouvet added that she had retained from her discussions with the social partners "a desire to resume the agreement concluded on 10 November 2023 on unemployment insurance, in particular to supplement it with provisions relating to compensation for seniors".

This agreement had been signed by the CFDT, FO, CFTC and employers' organisations, but had not been validated by the government due to a lack of provisions on seniors.

On this subject, the minister indicated to the social partners that they "share the desire to move forward on a relaxation of the conditions of access to gradual retirement", which are currently not very widespread in France.

This relaxation "could cost 300 million euros per year to the general and supplementary pension schemes" estimates the head of Medef Patrick Martin in an interview with Les Echos, adding that "in the interests of overall balance, this could involve finding the same amount of savings on unemployment insurance".

The minister's letter underlines that "without calling into question the financial trajectory determined in the framework document of August 1, 2023 (which at the time provided the framework for the negotiations, editor's note), the social partners are invited to propose measures to generate 400 million euros of additional savings annually."