The State will ask there soon “counterparties” to the beneficiaries of social aid? The debate – which is not new, has been re-launched this Friday by the prime minister Édouard Philippe. At a meeting with local elected representatives and managers of SMES to Plomordiern (Finistère) – organized in the framework of the “great debate” – he has floated the idea of asking for “rewards” to citizens in exchange for the payment of social assistance. The prime minister has acknowledged, however, that it was a subject “explosive”.
“Is this solidarity can be accompanied by rewards, activities, activities in the public interest ?”
“what is it that we ask those who benefit from the solidarity, is what one asks for something, and if yes, what?” he said during his exchange with local elected officials and bosses of SMES. Before continuing: “It is a debate totally explosive”. “Me, my conviction, that is a personal belief, is that given the importance of our solidarity mechanisms, taking account of our public finances, given the situation of a country that is growing but remains with a high level of unemployment, it is necessary that there are questions about these counterparts”, he added.
“we must look at what we can reflect with our fellow citizens as the consideration for the compulsory payment”, he continued. “It is essential to have mechanisms of solidarity for those who are in difficulty, it is a country where the solidarity that counts, it is not a question of going backwards, it is to question ‘is this solidarity, it can be accompanied by rewards, activities, activities of general interest’?”, also questioned Édouard Philippe. The prime minister has lastly considered that “it is a truly great political issue”.
An initiative that is applied in the Upper Rhine… and an idea long championed by Laurent Wauquiez
To emphasize the “explosive” character of this track, Édouard Philippe recalled the initiative of a polemic of the departmental council of the Haut-Rhin, entry into force on 1 January 2017, which asked recipients of the RSA to do 7 hours of volunteer work per week at the risk of being deprived of the allowance.
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as a reminder, the decision of the departmental council of the Haut-Rhin to condition the payment of the RSA, of hours of volunteer work had sparked a controversy and was denounced by the associations that support people in precarious. In June 2018, the State Council has finally validated this decision provided that those volunteer hours can contribute to a better professional integration of the beneficiary and remain compatible with the search for a job”.
The debate raised by Edward Philippe is also an echo of one of the tracks defended for a very long time by Laurent Wauquiez, president of the party of The Republicans (LR). On the website “The Right” social, political initiative that he launched in 2010, it proposes to require 5 to 7 hours of community work per week in respect of any RSA. Brocardant the “excesses of welfarism”, Laurent Wauquiez defended this position as early as 2011.
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The topic of social aid regularly leads to heated debates in France. In June 2018, the president of the Republic Emmanuel Macron had estimated that the social assistance cost “money crazy”. In 2016, allowances and other benefits amounted to a total of 714 billion, or 32% of GDP. These social benefits can reduce the poverty rate by 8.1 percentage points, according to a recent study by the ministry of health.
In the framework of the “great debate” national, this topic is back on the front of the stage. On the site of the granddebat.fr one of the questions asked is: “Should there be a counterparty to the different allocations of solidarity?”. The participants in the platform have responded to this question in the affirmative by up to 73%. Evidence that the declarations of Edward Philippe is clearly an answer to a concern of the French.
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