“I am disappointed by this sudden halt, especially since I found the concept very interesting”, deplores Jean Gorioux, president of the Community of Communes (CdC) Aunis Sud. In this rural area located between La Rochelle and Rochefort, approximately 1,300 people have been unemployed for more than a year. In the jargon, they are called persons permanently deprived of employment (PPDE). In an attempt to curb this problem, the community has been working since 2019 on the integration of the Territory zero long-term unemployed (TZCLD) system, like other areas in France. This approach consists of creating employment-oriented companies (EBE) to hire PPDEs on permanent contracts and on a fixed-time basis, in order to carry out useful work locally without being competitive.
“We had mobilized two full-time equivalents (FTE) on this device, the association was structured, as was the local committee for employment. 35 PPDEs were involved in the experiment. The EBE building was in the process of being acquired, we had to work around mobility, the crushing of plants and the deconstruction of openings, ”explains the president of the CdC. Everything was to materialize this year, but the project suddenly fell through at the end of January, as revealed by our colleagues from “L’Hebdo Charente-Maritime”. In question, a decree “voted unanimously” in June 2021 by the National Assembly imposing in particular on the Departments compulsory financing up to 15% of the State’s participation.
“It was far too risky financially”
In Charente-Maritime, the Department refused this financial commitment, thus condemning the system as such. “Before the vote on the decree, the CdC had to be autonomous on this project. There, we are asked for this participation, with a salary range ranging from 53 to 102% of the minimum wage per FTE, which makes the calculation complicated. We also had to finance part of the costs of the EBE structure. It was far too risky financially. Moreover, is it the vocation of a public structure to manage a company? We ask ourselves the question ”, justifies Sylvie Marcilly, the president of the departmental council of Charente-Maritime.
A letter sent by Jean-Léonce Dupont, president of the Department of Calvados, warning his counterparts about the financial “catastrophe” of the TZCLDs also weighed in the balance. “Be careful, it is out of the question to ignore the work carried out by the CdC, which is remarkable. The PPDE support project is not falling through, we are committed to monitoring them closely with Pôle emploi. There are also six integration structures in Aunis Sud which work very well. Our priority is to find solutions for these people in great difficulty,” promises the president. In the meantime, actors in the system are preparing letters to the Department, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor to hope to move the lines.