Medef meeting shunned by France's second largest employers' organization

The Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME) will not attend the meeting organized by the Medef (French employers' association) on October 13 in Paris, its boss, Amir Reza-Tofighi, confirmed in an interview with Le Parisien published on the evening of Tuesday, September 30.

"No, we will not attend the MEDEF mobilization. This meeting was not prepared collectively. We were not consulted during its preparation, otherwise we would have said that the timing was poorly chosen," as the government "has not yet been appointed," explained the president of the second largest organization representing businesses in France.

"I consulted my authorities. And by a very large majority they told us not to participate in the October 13th mobilization," continued Amir Reza-Tofighi.

The announcement of this meeting last week by the president of the French employers' association (MEDEF), Patrick Martin, took other employers' organizations by surprise. Michel Picon, president of the U2P (local businesses), has already announced that he will not attend the meeting, refusing to see small business owners serve as "cannon fodder" in a "reverse class struggle."

On the CPME side, instead of a meeting, "we will contact all the deputies and senators from all sides in the coming days, so that our members can meet them and explain the reality of the challenges facing businesses in the next budget," explains Amir Reza-Tofighi.

"We will use this Tour de France to tell parliamentarians not to tackle the cost of labor, whether it's through tax breaks or new taxes. We must also not touch the Dutreil Pact, which allows for the transfer of a family business, even if corrections can be made," he continues.

The Dutreil Pact, established in 2003, aims to facilitate the transfer of businesses by reducing transfer taxes. It allows for a 75% reduction on the value of the transferred securities, subject to a holding period of six years (initially eight years).

This pact would be in the sights of Bercy, according to La Tribune, because it only requires placing in the family holding company "at least 50% of professional assets", which allows the same number of private assets to be placed there.

The Court of Auditors is also due to publish a report on this text soon, but for the CPME, "it is a red line," warns Amir Reza-Tofighi.