From this Tuesday, a “Beauvau of civil security” must bring together over several months all the players in the sector, including financiers – departments and municipalities -, to “reflect on developments in financing” and “the professions” of civil security , indicated on X the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
“The first thing is to redefine the missionary field” of firefighters says Jean-Paul Bosland, president of the National Federation of French Firefighters (FNSPF). “We are facing medical desertification head-on,” without forgetting “the consequences of climate change” – forest fires, floods, etc. – underlines the lieutenant-colonel, who has been warning “for several months about the problem of permanent operational increase”.
“Misuse of firefighters”
“There is an abusive use of firefighters who become the fifth wheel of the carriage in social matters or in terms of interventions which are not of an emergency nature”, agrees Olivier Richefou, president of the national conference of services fire and rescue (CNSIS). “While many Sdis have had difficulty closing their budget”, André Accary, president of the Sdis commission of Departments of France, judges that this meeting is an opportunity to “put everything back on the table” , starting with the financing system.
Today, the Sdis are financed 90% by the departments and municipalities and 10% by the State, notably through the tax on insurance agreements (TSCA), explains André Accary, also president various- right of the department of Saône-et-Loire. In recent years, “considerable financial efforts have had to be made across all territories to adapt the response in terms of equipment,” he notes.
Let this “Beauvau not be just a gesticulation”
The elected official hopes that this “Beauvau will not be just a gesture”. “We really need to be able to come up with concrete, realistic and, above all, financeable measures, to truly perpetuate the French model of civil security.” Departments of France, such as the FNSPF, are pleading in particular for a reform of the TSCA, “which has never been revised”, underlines Jean-Paul Bosland.
Jean-Paul Bosland also suggests, “one avenue among many others”, the establishment of an Airbnb tax. “Rental platforms are gaining momentum. With more new tenants occupying, there is potential for additional interventions for us. » He finally calls for an increase in numbers to 250,000 volunteer firefighters, compared to 197,000 currently, and to 45,000 professional firefighters, compared to 41,000 currently.
A unique unit
The Federation and Departments of France are also counting on this Beauvau of civil security to defend the French model based on volunteering, today threatened by a European directive relating to working hours.
For their part, the unions are approaching the meeting with combativeness. The nine trade union organizations representing professional firefighters launched a united call this week for mobilization, on May 16 in Paris, to form a “common front” for consultations. Such unity is unprecedented, underlines the inter-union which calls for an overhaul of the financing of Sdis, as well as the revaluation of the fire bonus, currently 25% of the salary or a revision of end-of-career measures. And Xavier Boy, federal president FA/SPP-PATS, the leading union force of the Sdis in France, insisted: “Maintaining civil security as we know it today is going straight into the wall. »