In Bercy, the Lépine competition for measures to replenish state coffers continues. Latest announcement to date: an anti-fraud plan for public aid unveiled Thursday May 2 by the Minister of Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, in The echoes. In these times of budgetary diet and while the government intends to once again reform unemployment insurance, hoping in particular to find sources of savings, the latter would have every interest in looking into another major subject: compensation for cross-border workers. One figure is dizzying: in 2020, Unédic’s deficit linked to this item reached 924 million euros. Since 2011, the cumulative bill has even peaked at nearly 7 billion euros. This gaping hole in the coffers of the body responsible for the proper management of the unemployment insurance system has a name: European Regulation 883.
According to this text which came into force in 2010, a cross-border worker contributes in the State where he is employed. On the other hand, when he is made redundant, it is his country of origin that is responsible for compensating him. This rule applies to the 27, but also to Switzerland with which the EU has concluded a bilateral agreement. However, the Swiss salary is much higher than the French – 4,400 euros gross per month for the local minimum wage in the canton of Geneva, compared to 1,767 euros gross in France in 2023 – which implies much greater compensation in the event of dismissal beyond Jura. Problem: “Only compensation is planned, but this does not cover the entirety of the costs borne by our unemployment insurance, far from it,” deplores the office of the Minister of Labor, Catherine Vautrin.
The subject has been known for a long time
The same situation occurs in Luxembourg where the salary gap with France continues to increase. “There was no problem as long as the Swiss salary corresponded to the French salary. When the two amounts diverge, the systems of the States concerned provide unemployment benefits which are totally disconnected,” points out economist Bruno Coquet. However, this regulatory defect has been known for a long time. “It has been in our sights for several years. It takes political courage to get out of it,” says Jean-Eudes Tesson (Medef), elected president of Unédic at the start of the year.
France has repeatedly pushed for a modification of the text in order to rebalance the accounts, in vain. Two provisional agreements were however reached in 2019 and 2021, but were unable to obtain a majority in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States. They provided that the State which collected the contributions would also be the one which paid the allowances when the cross-border worker had worked there for at least twelve months. The economist Bruno Coquet is campaigning for the creation of a coefficient to be integrated into the formula for calculating compensation and which would allow the minimum wage in France to be weighted by that of the country of employment. “For Switzerland, this would lower the salary and therefore the allowance. Conversely, it would increase the amount of compensation in Spain where the salary is lower,” explains the expert. Renaissance MP Xavier Roseren, who questioned Catherine Vautrin on the subject at the beginning of April, during a debate on unemployment insurance, considers that this coefficient would be difficult to apply legally, because it is “discriminating”. According to him, “the simplest thing would be to take into account the duration of work in Switzerland and for the duration of compensation to be proportional.”
The French state too lax?
More recently, it was Belgium, favored by this system, which vetoed a change in the current rules. “We are a bit of a spectator. Only the government can really act and change this subject,” assures Patricia Ferrand, vice-president of Unédic and CFDT confederal leader. Many stakeholders nevertheless judge the French response to be insufficient. “The State steals 12 billion euros from us over the years to come and leaves us each year with almost a billion in deficit without taking action. It suits everyone that Unédic pays,” says Jean-Eudes Shard. “This type of file requires long-term in-depth work. And as is often the case, political time is rather short-term with a succession of different governments. Each time, the file is put back at the bottom of the pile,” adds Pierre-Loïc Faury, former president of the European Cross-border Group (GTE), an association for the defense of cross-border workers on the Franco-Swiss border bringing together more than 30,000 members.
On the Swiss side, “we are playing for time and bad faith”, criticizes Michel Beaugas (Force Ouvrière), assessor of Unédic. The fact remains that “this is not just a Franco-Swiss problem”, recalls Jennifer Raffy, lawyer within the GTE. However, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amherd, opened negotiations on March 18 with a view to deepening their bilateral relations. A golden opportunity. “This is an important round of talks. This would be the time to put the subject on the table,” recognizes Pierre-Loïc Faury. For its part, the executive is waiting for the European elections and the end of the Belgian presidency in June to take control of this conflicting issue. But depending on the results, priorities could quickly change.
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