“Full employment” law: the government defeated on childcare

2023-10-04 09:55:36

Published on Oct 4, 2023 at 9:55 am

Disappointment for the government: an article included in the “full employment” bill, aimed at initiating a “public early childhood service”, was rejected Tuesday in the Assembly by the opposition, deeming it very insufficient. It notably planned to rework the governance of reception structures (crèches, childminders, daycare centers, etc.), by giving municipalities the status of organizing authority, in conjunction with the departments, or even provisions to facilitate the exercise of these structures.

Measures “so that we can finally begin to outline a real public service for early childhood,” defended the Minister of Solidarity and Families, Aurore Bergé.

“Gaps”

But the oppositions had several grievances and the left and the right defended deletion amendments. “This article does not create the public early childhood service,” lamented the communist Pierre Dharréville. Criticizing an “opportunistic” article, the socialist Jérôme Guedj pointed out “gaps” on the “lack of personnel” or “salary increases”.

“This article ignores the means,” criticized MP LR Thibault Bazin, his group also believing that the text framed far too much the prerogatives of the municipalities.

As the hemicycle filled up and everyone counted the forces present, Aurore Bergé recalled government announcements of “200 million per year for the upgrading of personnel” and “6 billion” for early childhood “between 2023 and 2027 “. In vain. The deletion amendments were adopted (130 votes against 127, with the support of LR, LFI, RN, Communist and Liot deputies).

“What a disappointment,” reacted immediately on X (formerly Twitter) the National Union of Family Associations.

According to a government source, the executive has not planned to resort to a new deliberation on the article.

Home Control

“It was as much a vote against the article as a vote against Aurore Bergé,” said a deputy from the RN group. At the end of the evening the minister repeated the “need […] to move forward on a real public early childhood service.” “I hope we can come back and work on it together again.” The only interest that should be ours must be that of our children,” she insisted. “The proposal you are making for the moment is not up to par,” replied LFI MP William Martinet.

In the evening, however, the deputies adopted an article to better control establishments welcoming young children and to regulate their opening authorizations with a prior opinion from the mayor, a decision from the departmental council and authorizations limited to fifteen years.

By order in Overseas Territories

The debates became tense at the end of the evening on the article which provides for applying the measures of the bill by ordinance in the Overseas Territories. Several overseas MPs took turns denouncing “a lack of respect”.

“I am committed to ensuring that the ordinances are prepared with overseas parliamentarians,” underlined the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt. “We don’t want to be associated, we want to vote,” retorted Emeline K/Bidi (Reunion).

“This deprives the overseas deputies of a serious decision,” denounced Frédéric Maillot (Réunion). “Debre said […] Once Creole, always Creole. This evening we see that it’s once a colonist, always a colonist,” he said. “I apologize. Honestly, the comments you made are unbearable,” replied the president of the Renaissance group Sylvain Maillard.

The debates will resume this Wednesday afternoon. The vote on the entire bill will take place on October 10. If adopted, it could further develop into a joint committee, including on the issue of early childhood care.