Social Security deficit reduced by one billion in Senate after budget review

Halfway through the discussion, the executive is already taking stock of the debates in the Senate on the Social Security financing bill for 2025.

And the account is less bad than at the start: according to the amendment tabled by the government and adopted by the upper house, "the balance" of the Social Security "comes out at -15 billion euros, against -16 billion initially planned".

An improvement of one billion which "takes into account the financial impact of the amendments adopted" since Monday, specified the Minister of Health Geneviève Darrieussecq.

In particular, the new "solidarity contribution", equivalent to 7 hours of unpaid work per year and supposed to bring in 2,5 billion euros. Added to this are the increases in "behavioral" taxes (tobacco, sodas, gambling) for 500 million, and increased taxation on "free shares" for 500 million more.

The minister also welcomed "good news on VAT revenues", which were better than expected by 200 million.

Conversely, the Senate voted for "less favourable measures on revenue", in particular on employer contributions (1,1 billion), but also the retirement fund for local government employees (600 million) and apprentices (200 million).

Ms Darrieussecq also reported additional spending of 300 million on health and 400 million on pensions due to the two-stage revaluation negotiated between Prime Minister Michel Barnier and the strongman of the right, Laurent Wauquiez.

This compromise provides for increasing pensions by half of inflation on January 1, then by a second half on July 1 for pensions below the minimum wage only.

This measure has not yet been voted on in the Senate, however, where the "revenue" part of the Social Security budget was widely adopted on Thursday evening at the end of the session, by 229 votes to 108. More than 350 amendments remain to be examined on the "expenditure" part by Saturday evening.

The head of Medef warns of the consequences for employment of an increase in charges

Medef president Patrick Martin warned again on Friday, November 22, about the cost to employment, in the hundreds of thousands according to him, that the increase in employer charges planned in the budget but contested by the Macronist camp would represent.

"As currently provided for in the draft finance and social security financing laws, companies are bearing 8 to 9 billion euros more in labour costs. To put things in perspective, that's the equivalent of 350.000 jobs," he assured on RTL.

"This means that companies will not be able to recruit, and some of them will have to lay off staff, and in any case will not be able to increase salaries at a time when the job market is turning around," he assured.

"The legislator and our leaders should pay attention to this," said the president of Medef, at a time when the Macronist group Ensemble pour la République (EPR) wants to reverse the four billion in cancellations of reductions in charges planned in the Social Security budget.

Even the Minister of Economy and Finance, Antoine Armand, now openly wants this.

"My main fight is for us to have zero increase in the cost of labor, particularly in social security contributions," said Mr. Martin, advocating instead a reduction in public spending.

"In the Prime Minister's defense, all this is being done in a hurry," he acknowledged, "but we are demanding direction."

"We are watching with anguish as the world closes. Europe is an exporter, we must not deprive ourselves of outlets throughout the world," he finally declared in reference to the European Union's free trade agreement with the Latin American countries of Mercosur, which is putting French farmers on the streets.

For him, "there are probably certain clauses that need to be revised."

"But if we cannot trade with the United States because they are protectionist, with China because they are insidiously protectionist, and we forbid ourselves from trading with Latin America, who will we trade with?" he asked, recalling that 20% of French employees work for export.