The controversial reform promoted by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has been frozen after Sunday’s election result.
He French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attalhas decided to suspend the unemployment benefit system reform project after the first round of the legislative elections.
On Sunday, the right-wing National Rally party (AN) and its allies they got 33% of the votes, followed by the leftist alliance New Popular Front, with 28%. President Macron’s Ensemble coalition came third, with just under 21% of the vote.
Given the criticism from the two main parties to Attal’s unemployment reform, the prime minister has doubled down on one of his main goals since taking office in January. The formalization of the decree did not take place on Monday, as planneddespite claims to the contrary made by Attal last month.
“A decree for this reform will be published before July 1, which is based on the framework established by the 2019 reform,” the prime minister told France Inter radio on June 13.
Attal spoke a few days after european electionsin which Macron’s Renaissance party was badly defeated by AN, triggering the French snap elections.
“[La reforma] is accompanied above all by better support for the unemployed to help them return to work,” Attal added.
Changes in the benefits system
The reform proposed by the Government proposes limit unemployment benefits to a maximum of 15 months for those under 57 years of agecompared to the current limit of 18 months.
Attal also foresees reduce eligibility criteriawhich means someone must have worked at least eight months during the last 20 months to receive payments from the State.
At the moment, applicants must have worked at least six months in the last 24 months. The leftist New Popular Front has branded the reform “cruel” and has announced that it will appeal immediately.
Jordan Bardellafrom the AN, in statements to France 3, He also expressed his disapproval of the measure.: “I’m a little tired of systematically asking for their efforts.”
Also on the right, the candidates of the Republican party are divided on the issue. The powerful ones unions vehemently oppose the reform.
Boost growth by fighting unemployment
Several economic experts, however, emphasize the need to increase employment figures in France for boost growth, one of the distinctive policies of President Macron’s mandate. Since he came to power in 2017, Macron has introduced a series of changes to the country’s unemployment system. that have boosted the numbers of workers.
Even so, the finance French are not so rosy at present, especially because the public coffers are limited by a widening budget deficit. In 2023, the deficit rose to 5.5%, exceeding the State’s target of 4.9%.
“If France wants full employment, if it wants reindustrializeif it wants to continue being a first-rate economic power, must move towards full employment and therefore must continue with the reform of unemployment benefits,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Inter on Monday.
Pausing the reform could be a means for the Government to avoid stoke premature conflicts with his political adversaries, despite the economic risks.
