It is a decision “taken unanimously” which is now criticized from all sides. The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, defended Thursday the 300 euro increase in the advance of mandate fees (AFM) of deputies, which caused a strong reaction. As a reminder, the decision to increase the AFM from 5,645 euros to 5,950 euros (+5.4%) per month was taken on Wednesday by the office, the highest body of the National Assembly, with the support of all groups politicians present at the time of the vote, except for LFI which abstained. The socialist Valérie Rabault, absent during the vote, had expressed her reservations.
“Everyone voted for,” insisted Yaël Braun-Pivet on Thursday during his greetings to the press, castigating these “deputies who vote and the next day issue a press release” or “who abstain to now run the sets and say: It’s a horror.” “I tell these lesson-givers to be consistent and not degrade the institution that I have the honor of presiding,” she added.
A postponement deemed inappropriate
The National Rally requested in a press release on Thursday the postponement “sine die” of this increase which “rightly arouses a certain emotion among our compatriots in a period when the purchasing power of many French people is very degraded”. “It seems inappropriate to us to make this decision” this Thursday, repeated the leader of the RN deputies, Marine Le Pen, during her greetings to the press.
Insoumis François Ruffin assured that he would donate these additional 300 euros to Solidarité Paysans, which helps farmers. “It is not part of the costs that he has the right to spend, the money does not belong to him,” recalled Yaël Braun-Pivet.
Not an “increase in remuneration”
“This is not an increase in the remuneration of parliamentarians”, but “an increase in the ceiling of our expenses which allows us to exercise our mandate fully and meet the expectations of our fellow citizens”, a- she insisted. This money “obviously comes from our reserves, we do not finance it by an increase in the allocation”, she added, ensuring that there was “strict” control of expenditure.
The advance of mandate fees allows the rental of a office, to finance travel, to cover certain accommodation expenses, reception and representation costs. Since 2018, they have been controlled and unused sums must be returned to the National Assembly treasury. In 2022, ten million euros were returned.