PURCHASING POWER LAW 2022. The purchasing power bill was presented this Thursday at a press conference, at the exit of the Council of Ministers. Increase in social benefits, targeted aid … Here is what the government is proposing.
[Mis à jour le 7 juillet 2022 à 18h50] Faced with the “return of inflation”, the government presented its purchasing power bill this afternoon. At the end of the Council of Ministers, Olivier Véran (spokesman for the government), Bruno Le Maire (Minister of the Economy) and Olivier Dussopt (Minister of Labour) followed one another to detail the already widely known measures aimed at “protecting the French against inflation”. Measures governed by three principles, set out by Bruno Le Maire: “efficiency”, “justice”, but also “public finances”, it being understood that “we do not want to finance the purchase pvr with debt but by creating wealth.”
The government is therefore proposing several measures aimed at increasing the purchasing power of the French in the face of inflation. A revaluation of social benefits first: increase in the RSA, retirement pensions or even the AAH. But also specific aid for constrained expenses linked to the rise in the price of fuel, housing and food: “compensation fuel worker”, increase in APL, food check. Finally, an increase in the income of those who work, by an increase in the activity bonus, a reduction in the contributions of the self-employed, or even support for profit-sharing and participation The cost of these new measures is estimated at 20 billion euros.
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 this Thursday.
Revaluation of social benefits
- The 4% revaluation 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 assistance (PLA) by 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 check 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.
What measures does the opposition propose for purchasing power?
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 proposals of the Nupes take up the main points of the common program drawn up during the campaign of the legislative : 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 of the index point for 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 this 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.
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.