The discussions were long, very long. But this Wednesday (at 4 am), the Senate adopted at first reading, the second part of the measures in support of purchasing power. Revaluation of pensions and social minima, discount at the pump and “redeemable” RTT… Difficult to navigate in this parliamentary jungle. No worries, 20 minutes takes stock of what will change for you. Follow the map.
4% increase in pensions and social minima
First step of our Backpacker’s Guide purchasing power measures: social benefits, social minima and pensions are increased by 4%. The Senate validated this boost. The upper house also voted to raise the index point for civil servants. Retirement pensions, already indexed to inflation in January, will therefore benefit from an increase of 5.1% over the year 2022 as for the RSA, it goes from 575 euros to 598 euros.
Ceiling on rents
A stopover on the accommodation side is a must. The new measures for purchasing power provide for a revaluation of personalized housing assistance (APL) by 3.5%. In addition, the increase in rents is capped at a maximum of 3.5% for one year, from October 15th. Last night, the Senate also extended this cap to the premises of small and medium-sized businesses.
Thirty cents discount at the pump
After the “rent shield”, we are looking at the “energy tariff shield”. Inflation continues to gallop and if the price of road fuels fell last week, it remains very expensive to fill up for many French people. At service stations, the discount on a liter of fuel is currently 18 cents. However, it will increase to reach 30 cents in September-October then ten cents in November-December.
Biometric vital card
The Senate voted 20 million credits to launch the implementation of a biometric Vitale card. This will be equipped with a chip integrating the physical characteristics of the insured in order to limit fraud and make it possible to verify that it is neither a fake card nor a “borrowed” card. The senators adopted by 242 votes against 95 an amendment carried by Philippe Mouiller (LR) providing for “the first credits allowing to launch from the fall of 2022 the construction site of the establishment of a biometric Vitale card”.
Deconjugation of the disabled adult allowance
The Senate has validated the deconjugalization of the Allowance for disabled adults (AAH), already dubbed by the National Assembly. On October 1, 2023, the income of the spouses of people with disabilities will no longer be taken into account in the calculation of assistance. This was a recurring request from associations. In the current system, a disabled person in a couple can see the amount of this aid reduced if their spouse earns more than 1,020 euros net per month or even eliminated from 2,270 euros net. A situation that can create dependency.
The back-to-school bonus takes a hit
Provoking an outcry on the left, the senators replaced, against the advice of the government, the exceptional back-to-school bonus of 100 euros, reserved for social minima, with an exceptional increase of 150 euros for beneficiaries of the activity bonus. This provision may, however, be discussed again in a joint committee on Wednesday evening, and could therefore be modified again by the parliamentarians.
Tax exemption for overtime and redemption of RTT
With the support of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, the Senate has made permanent the increase from 5,000 to 7,500 euros of the ceiling for tax exemption for overtime, voted by the National Assembly for the year 2022 alone.
The High Assembly also voted, against the advice of the government, the perpetuation of the possibility for companies to buy back the days of RTT from employees, planned by the deputies only until the end of 2023 – redemption exempt from taxes and contributions . The left opposed it, believing that this measure amounted to “burying the 35 hours” in the words of Thomas Dossus (EELV).
Additional support for communities
At the end of the day on Tuesday, the Senate voted with the partial approval of the government for additional support for communities, affected in particular by the increase in energy prices and the rise in the index point for civil servants, bringing the envelope total to 750 million euros.
Death of the audiovisual license fee and cancellations facilitated online
Unsurprisingly, the Senate also voted to abolish the TV license fee, Emmanuel Macron’s promise. Amounting to 138 euros in mainland France and 88 euros overseas this year, the fee brought in 3.2 billion euros out of the 3.8 billion paid to public broadcasting. The text plans to allocate to public broadcasting “a fraction” of VAT, for an amount of approximately 3.7 billion euros, in order to respond to concerns about its financing.
Like the deputies, the senators adopted the “termination in 3 clicks” which should make it easier to terminate a subscription or an online contract. From 2023, it will be mandatory for sites that offer online subscription to also offer online termination. To make life easier for consumers.