2024-01-25 17:15:06
FRANCE – At a time when farmers are grumbling and pounding the pavement for a decent life and inflation is putting a hole in the wallets of the French, MPs are granting themselves an increase of more than 300 euros for their mandate fees.
Anti-inflation measures work for MPs, not for the average French person.
To cope with the rise in prices, the National Assembly, on January 24, increased the advance of the mandate fees (AFM) of deputies by more than 300 euros, to almost 6,000 euros per month. An increase of 5.4% is difficult to understand in these troubled times, when many farmers are out on the streets. A decision supported by a large part of the political groups with the exception of the LFI deputies who abstained, and the socialist group: Valérie Rabault, their representative designated to vote, was in fact absent! A Valerie Rabault who obviously swore to herself that she would never have agreed to vote for such an increase.
After all, no matter how you vote, everyone will benefit!
The AFM, which covers costs linked to office rental, travel or accommodation, is now extended to include childcare costs, provided that MEPs do not request deductions tax simultaneously. Since 2018, these expenses have been controlled and unused funds returned to the Assembly treasury. This advance supplements the salary of elected officials (7,637 euros gross per month) and replaces the old IRFM (compensation representing mandate costs), this unverified envelope, a source of numerous abuses.
However, this increase was criticized by the UNSA, a union of parliamentary collaborators, which deplores that the Assembly refuses to increase the credit allocated to the teams of deputies, which currently amounts to 11,118 euros per month. The UNSA emphasizes that these teams, often made up of three to five members, are sometimes paid the minimum wage and part-time, and calls for better consideration of their working conditions.
This new increase, which the deputies granted to themselves, comes at a bad time, while farmers are demonstrating throughout France and have been warning for several years about standards, foreign competition, prices imposed by purchasing centers, no longer guaranteeing a even a decent life.
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