Rural mayors make 35 proposals concerning their elected status

The “Commitment and proximity” law of 2019 had already improved the conditions for exercising local mandate but “many points still need to be improved and the balance between private and professional life remains complicated”, recognizes Eric Krezel, vice-president of the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF), at the end of its annual congress.

Among the proposals, the AMRF requests that the status of elected officials appear in a specific article of the labor code, while the provisions are today "scattered" and only concern large cities.

“There is nothing in the labor code for elected officials from small towns, even though they are the ones who have the least human resources and the most need of help,” emphasizes Eric Krezel.

The association also demands that elected officials be considered as protected employees in the same way as staff representatives, and that they no longer be penalized in the event of sick leave.

She also calls for the number of quarters taken into account to calculate the retirement pension to be revised upwards.

In terms of compensation, the rural mayors also believe that "the account is not there", taking into account the "inflation of meetings" which has considerably increased the workload and the multiple unreimbursed trips.

They are demanding a "lump sum payment" from the State to mayors and a separate envelope dedicated to the first councilors, who sometimes do not dare to pay themselves more than their deputies.

Other expectations: access to training, particularly at the start of the mandate, and better recognition of the elected mandate so that it can serve as a springboard for resuming professional activity at the end of the mandate.

“In three years we will be in 2026. We can fear an insufficient number of candidates for the next municipal elections if we do nothing,” warned MP Violette Spillebout (Renaissance), co-rapporteur of an information mission on the status of the elected, praising the work of the AMRF.

“It is essential that new people get involved in politics. There are more resignations, more people who do not dare to get involved for fear of violence or incompatibility with professional or personal life, therefore the status of the elected official is truly a matter of democratic urgency,” she added.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.