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The remuneration of the 577 deputies and 348 senators is often questioned, with some believing that their salaries and benefits are too high. On the subject, within the framework of our “Laboratory of proposals”, a reader of Le Parisien wondered if it was possible to “compensate parliamentarians according to their presence” in the hemicycles of the National Assembly and the Senate.
What is it about ?
The regulations of the two chambers already provide for financial sanctions in the event of repeated absences of parliamentarians. In the National Assembly, according to article 42, beyond two monthly absences in committee, deputies are subject to a deduction of 25% on the monthly amount of their service allowance (a relaxation is notably provided for elected outside mainland France). Article 159 also implies that if an elected official has taken part in less than two thirds of the public ballots, a deduction of one third of the service allowance is applied.
In the Senate, since 2015 and in accordance with article 23 bis, a deduction equal to half of the quarterly amount of function is imposed in the event of absence, during the same quarter, of more than half of the votes, of the meetings of standing or special committees, or sittings on current affairs in government.
In all these cases, it is only the service allowance that is reduced. However, the allowance of a parliamentarian is made up of three sources: the basic allowance of 5,623.23 euros gross, the function allowance of 1,447.98 euros gross and the residence allowance of 168.70 euros gross.
Is it doable?
This would pose several problems, in particular because the official presence in the hemicycles is not necessarily synonymous with work, just as, conversely, an elected official who is not in plenary or in committee is not necessarily inactive. In addition to his work in the Assembly, “we also expect the deputy to listen to these voters, to mobilize in his constituency. However, in particular, for distant constituencies, this necessarily poses logistical problems, ”notes for example Emiliano Grossman, associate professor at Sciences-po.
Given that there can be sittings in the Hemicycle, committees and meetings at the same time, “it is difficult to say that a parliamentarian should be here rather than there”, agrees Olivier Rozenberg, professor at Political science. Not to mention that, when the laws are being prepared, “what is interesting is the work of discussion”. A difficult stage “if there are more than 30 of us. It is possible to make laws well and to deliberate without being too numerous, but it is true that it gives an impression of emptiness which is not good in terms of picture,” he continues.
The other difficulty is that the current system provided for marking its presence is not completely binding. “Some deputies leave in full committee”, confides for example Olivier Rozenberg. And, in the upper chamber, “the usher notes who comes to sit down for a session, but if the senator leaves a few minutes later, he is still considered present,” he explains.
How much would it pay?
According to Florian Bachelier, first quaestor of the National Assembly, the budget for parliamentary allowances amounted to 51 million euros in 2021. A similar figure is planned for 2022. “The related social charges amount to 69, 4 million euros and 72.5 for 2022 (including expenses related to unemployment compensation for non-reelected deputies) ”, he specifies to us. The upper house website specifies that for 2020-2021, 40.8 million euros were used in “parliamentary allowances and expenses for active senators”. It is therefore on these two amounts that savings can be made.
But the amount of these savings depends on the rule you want to apply. Parliamentary sessions last from October to June, nine months, or about 38.5 weeks. According to the observations of the Regards citoyen initiative, 47 deputies were only present for eight weeks or less. Based on this most extreme sample, and assuming that absent MEPs could have their service allowances reduced over the 30 weeks (or more) during which they are absent, the savings would be more than 510 500 euros. On the same criteria, for the Senate, the economy would be more than 65,000 euros if the six deputies present for less than eight weeks were deprived of a duty allowance during their absence.
What about abroad?
“In none of the neighboring countries are there penalties or a strong presence requirement”, notes Emiliano Grossman, associate professor at Sciences-po, even if “in general, these debates exist almost everywhere”. There are still some initiatives in this direction: in Israel, “we know in real time if a deputy is present in the premises. In Germany, there is a sign-in sheet at the entrance to the Bundestag building”, lists Olivier Rozenberg, professor at Sciences-po.