Elections: French government backtracks on unemployment insurance reform

This article was originally published in English

The reform, presented as one of the spearheads of government action, had provoked the wrath of the opposition forces. In the middle of the two rounds, the executive is backpedaling. To give assurances?

This is a renunciation that echoes the double setback suffered by the presidential majority during the European elections of June 9, but even more so at the end of the first round of early legislative elections, following the dissolution of the National Assembly.

On Sunday evening, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the suspension of unemployment insurance reform.

On the same day, at the end of the vote, the National Rally (RN), a French far-right party, and its allies had obtained 33% of the vote, while the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, won 28% of the vote, far ahead of the presidential coalition, which posted a score of 21%.

Denying the commitments made a month earlier, the executive now says it is drawing a line under the decree which was to ratify this reform.

The initial objective was to reduce the duration of compensation…

The reform proposed by the government aimed to limit compensation for job seekers to a maximum of 15 months for those under 57, compared to 18 months currently. It was also to restrict the eligibility criteria, and increased the required work period to eight months in the twenty months preceding the unemployment period, compared to six months in the last two years currently.

A device that immediately aroused criticism from the NFP as well as the RN, and from the unions, fiercely opposed to the reform. And in the Republican camp, the subject continued to divide internally.

…and boost growth

Since coming to power in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has managed to “reverse the curve” in the number of job seekers, notably by tackling the unemployment insurance project.

But the room for maneuver will undoubtedly be limited, given the record level of the public deficit, which reached 5.5% for 2023, exceeding the target of 4.9% set by the State.

This backtracking by Gabriel Attal, which comes during the two rounds, illustrates the procrastination of the presidential coalition since the failure of Sunday evening, but also the attempt to leave the door ajar for dialogue – if not calculation – with the opposition forces.