PURCHASING POWER LAW 2022. The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire was at the microphone of RTL this Monday, July 18 before the examination of the purchasing power bill, in public session at the Assembly. Salaries, fuel, VAT… Here are the three hot spots of this first session.
[Mis à jour le 18 juillet 2022 à 08h43] The presidential majority may well find themselves in difficulty during the examination of the purchasing power bill in the National Assembly this Monday, June 18, 2022. Indeed, a twenty articles are today are on the table, some of which could trigger heated debates in the hemicycle, as the opposition seems determined to force the executive to change gear. In the first line, the question of wages. The government has decided to increase the remuneration of certain branches such as civil servants with the unfreezing of the index point by 3.5%, or the tripling of the Macron bonus, which is more like a employee dividend. Other bonuses such as the inflation bonus, or the fuel bonus could also appear, they are in any case offered by the executive. Here, the opposition should be categorical: an increase in real wages rather than bonuses. Jean-Luc Melenchon and the Nupes are considering a minimum wage at 1 500 euros.
What about fuel prices? Here, the opposition could force the government to revise its plans. Because, even on the side of its potential allies (The Republicans), the program has nothing to do with it. On the right, we prefer a reduction in the liter of fuel to 1.50 euros per liter. For the Nupesit’s a fuel price freeze which is desired. For the time being, the executive wishes to set up a bonus of 100 to 300 euros for big riders. For the Minister of Economy, Bruno the Mayorthe wish of the Republicans is simply impossible, as he insisted on recalling this Monday, July 18 on the airwaves ofRTL : “It’s part of the red lines, why? Because it explodes public spending. The public finance framework has been defined, we must see a 5% deficit in 2022. We have a package of 20 billion euros ( …) the framework of public finances is not negotiable because it would be bad for our compatriots, our children, and it would increase the burden of the debt. I think that the Republicans can hear it perfectly, and that we we can progress”.
On the side of Marine Le Pen and you national rally, the big point of divergence could well be on the VAT side. The latter wants a decrease from 20% VAT on all energy. As well as the pure and simple abolition of VAT on the products of first necessity. Side Nupeswe would rather block the prices of basic necessities. Within the majority, the introduction of specific aid for constrained expenses linked to the rise in fuel pricefrom lodging and of thefeed are considered: “worker fuel allowance”, increase in APL, shield on rents or even food check, now transformed into “emergency food aid” which will be paid from the start of the 2022 school year. Invited to the microphone of RTL this Monday, July 18, the tenant of Bercy Bruno Le Maire announced that he was open to discussion concerning the fuel bonus and its implementation: “We have planned extend until October 1. I do not close the door to compromise proposals that could be made to me by other political forces in the National Assembly. Should it be extended further? Should it be increased? We will see what the proposals will be, I am not closing the door as long as we remain within the budgetary framework”.
In a context of high inflation reinforced by the war in Ukraine, the government is putting on the table a series of measures to revalue social minima, but also retirement pensions, APL and the index point. The purchasing power bill also provides for the temporary supervision of energy prices and rents. Here are the essentials of the measures presented on Thursday, July 7.
Revaluation of social benefits
- The revaluation of 4% of social minima: this increase concerns the Solidarity Activity Income (RSA), the Disabled Adult Allowance (AAH) and the Solidarity Allowance for the Elderly (Aspa).
- Indexation of pensions to inflation: basic pensions will be immediately increased by 4%, while a minimum retirement pension will be set at 1,100 euros.
Targeted aid for constrained expenses
- An increase in housing aid (APL) of 3.5% and the implementation of a shield on rents, aimed at limiting their increase to a maximum of 3.5% until the second quarter of 2023.
- A food voucher for the 9 million poorest households, worth 100 euros, plus 50 euros per dependent child.
- Several support measures in the face of the fuel price increase: the fuel discount of 18 cents per litre, introduced in April, will be extended unchanged until the end of August, after which it should gradually decrease until it disappears in December. It will be replaced by a “worker’s fuel allowance”, which all employees going to work by car will be able to apply for from October: this will range from €100 to €200, with an increase for workers living more than 30km from home. them. The project also provides for an increase in the ceiling of the “tax-free individual transport bonus”: paid by employers to employees using their car to get to work, the ceiling of this bonus could increase from 200 to 400 euros.
- The extension of the “tariff shield”: implemented in the fall of 2021, this measure will be extended until the end of 2022 and provides for the freezing of the price of gas and the limitation of the price of electricity below 4% of rise. Bruno Le Maire promised that there would be “no catch-up” at the start of 2023.
Revalorization of work
- The 4% increase in the activity bonus, paid to workers with low incomes.
- Unfreezing of the index point for civil servants: a revaluation of 3.5% of the point was applied from July 1st.
- The tripling of the Macron bonus: this “exceptional tax-free and desocialized purchasing power bonus” is paid by the employer to the employee on a voluntary basis, and was previously capped at 1000. It could now reach 3000 euro. For companies that have signed a profit-sharing agreement and companies with fewer than 50 employees, the bonus ceiling would increase from 2,000 to 6,000 euros. In addition, companies will be able to split the payment over the year .
- A reduction in the contributions of self-employed workers, which would benefit two-thirds of them.
- The simplification of profit-sharing agreements by unilateral decision in companies with fewer than 50 employees.
The amount of the civil service index point has been completely frozen since 2017. Indeed, for more than 5 years, no general increase in the remuneration of public officials has taken place. Only a few categorical increases have been implemented by Emmanuel Macron since his election as President of the Republic in 2017. But as of this year, the civil service index point will experience a further increase! An increase which should be between 1% and 4%. As a reminder, a general increase of 1% would cost the State 2 billion euros per year. The various unions were demanding an increase of between 3% and 20%. The final amount of the increase in the index point will be known on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
What measures does the opposition propose for purchasing power?
On Tuesday July 5, the deputies of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union presented their own bill on purchasing power, ahead of the text prepared by the government. The Nupes proposals take up the main points of the common program drawn up during the legislative campaign: increase in the minimum wage to 1,500 euros net, blocking of the prices of basic necessities and energy, revaluation of 10% of housing aid (APL) and the index point of civil servants. To finance these measures, the Nupes proposes an exceptional tax on the “super-profits” of several large companies. The left coalition should try to insert these proposals in the government’s purchasing power bill, in the form of amendments.
For their part, the LR deputies also sent Matignon at the start of the week their proposals for purchasing power. They propose, for example, that the cost of petrol be guaranteed at 1.50 euros per litre, but also a reduction in the CSG (general social security contribution) on well-to-do pensions aimed at offsetting the previous increases, or even a general reduction in employee contributions aimed at raising take-home pay.
The purchasing power bill was a government campaign promise before the legislative elections. He finally arrived only Thursday, July 7 in the Council of Ministers. His examination in the National Assembly will begin on July 18. The text, very dense and rich in controversial points, should however be the subject of long debates in the new hemicycle. The President of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, confided on July 3 on France 3 to hope to see the adoption of the text “before the end of July, the beginning of August maximum”, for entry into force of most of the measures at the start of September.