After the dissolution, the executive called to abandon its unemployment insurance reform

The big blur. Since the surprise announcement of the dissolution, the rare members of the government to speak in the media remain cautious about the future of a politically flammable reform and refer the final decision to the Emmanuel Macron-Gabriel Attal duo.

“It is the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister who will decide,” declared the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, Tuesday on BFMTV/RMC.

“We are doing all the preparation work and then it will be up to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the minister in charge to see if the conditions are met to go through to the end and it will be up to them to say it in the coming days", explained Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture, Monday on BFM Business.

A supporter of the turn of the screw, Mr. Le Maire nevertheless reiterated that he was “favorable to this reform”. We must encourage people to return to work,” according to him.

When ? “Now,” said the Minister of Finance.

“The decision of the President of the Republic is not a call into question what has been done and built. We have many things to our credit, courageous reforms and we want to continue,” highlighted the Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in front of Renaissance deputies, Tuesday morning.

Asked about the future of the reform, the Ministry of Labor refers to Emmanuel Macron's conference postponed to Wednesday.

By ending the work of the Assembly with the dissolution, the executive spared itself the examination on June 13 at the Palais Bourbon of a bill against the reform of unemployment insurance which should have gathered a good share oppositions.

1er July

The new unemployment insurance reform, due to come into force on December 1, notably includes a reduced duration of compensation from 18 to 15 months, and the need to have worked eight months out of the last 20 months to be compensated ( compared to six months in the last 24 months currently).

The project would allow savings of between 4 and 5,4 billion euros per year within four to five years, Unédic estimated on Tuesday.

In May, the government announced a target of 3,6 billion in annual savings.

The new rules must be subject to the publication of the decree before July 1. Without a new decree on this date, whatever its content, there would no longer be any rules governing compensation for the unemployed.

At this stage, the project carried by the government is examined by the Council of State. It is also still on the menu of the collective bargaining advisory commission, which is due to meet on Wednesday, according to a union source.

"The passage to the Council of State is underway, so before June 30, before the elections, they have time to pass their decree. It is not a question of time but of political decision", observes Denis Gravouil, confederal secretary of the CGT, responsible for unemployment insurance.

"We have no information directly from the Ministry of Labor, which does not respond to us" but "we have information from other channels (...) which tell us that the reform will follow its course, that the government has decided to go through in force,” he continues.

"The situation is unique because this decree would probably not have been able to pass thanks to the bill from the Liot group, which was passed in committee. Emmanuel Macron will be able to pass a reform that all the unions and a political majority support. the Assembly were ready to block,” observed François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC, on BFM Business on Tuesday.

“The government must immediately abandon its unemployment insurance reform,” demanded CFDT, CGT, Unsa, FSU and Solidaires in a joint press release on Monday.

Gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), the eight trade union organizations which had formed the common front against the pension reform in 2023 (CFDT, CGT, FO, CGE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, FSU and Solidaires ) will again demand the abandonment of the reform.