Appeasement gestures from the government are increasing, a few weeks after unveiling a 2025 budget announcing numerous spending reductions. This Sunday, November 17, the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, said he was “ready” to halve the effort requested from companies regarding the reduction of employer contributions, i.e. “2 billion euros” instead of the 4 initially presented. And this “so as not to penalize minimum wage employees” whose employers would then see “the cost of this work increase”, continued the minister on LCI.
To reduce the public deficit, the government notably announced a future reduction in exemptions from employer contributions, which have doubled in 10 years. Already at the beginning of November, the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Antoine Armand, said he was ready to “mitigate” the planned increase in employer contributions on low wages, in exchange for “other efforts” such as an extension of the time of work. The government said in particular that it was in favor of the Senate’s proposal for 7 hours of additional work per year without remuneration required of workers to finance Social Security.
Michel Barnier wants to “reduce the effort” of departments
A few days earlier, Prime Minister Michel Barnier also made a gesture, this time towards local authorities, during the closing of the meetings of the Départements de France association. While the finance bill provides 5 billion euros in savings for communities, 44% of this effort would weigh on the departments even though their economic situation is recognized as fragile, the latter warned. Finally, the budgetary effort that will be required of them will be reduced “very significantly” to take into account their “very specific” situation, the Prime Minister announced on Friday, November 15. Who also noted that a “departmental model as known for 30 years” had reached “its limits”.
However, he did not provide figures for the reduction in this contribution, which “will depend on the discussion in the Senate”, said Matignon. A few hours earlier, some of the French departments had threatened to no longer pay RSA to protest against the requested cuts.
Compromise on pensions: a partial freeze in January
While the government had announced a freeze on the increase in pensions until July 1 in order to achieve 4 billion euros in savings, retirees will ultimately benefit from an increase in their pension equivalent to half of inflation at January 1, 2025, i.e. a partial freeze. Low-income retirees will subsequently benefit from a complete revaluation and catch-up. The compromise was announced by the president of the Republican Right in the Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez, on November 11 on TF1, causing many discontent among the most conservatives and in the presidential camp in the days that followed.
The measure was confirmed a few hours later in the National Assembly. In responding to a question from the DR MP, Michel Barnier pledged that “retirees, whose level of basic and supplementary pension included is less than the equivalent of a net minimum wage, will benefit, in July 2025, a second lasting revaluation, but also compensation for the shortfall in the first half of next year.” A measure which will concern “nearly half of retirees, 44% to be exact”, specified the Prime Minister.