“I say, a certain number of aids – family allowances, housing allowances – should be given after a certain number of years of presence. People tell you ‘horror, what a facho’. But it exists in Germany, Austria, Denmark!”, was indignant the mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, questioned Thursday, July 21 on CNews. However, this is not the case in all these countries.
As a reminder, in France, family allowances are granted to anyone residing in the country, under certain conditions. You must be in a regular situation, have at least one dependent child who also resides in France and live in France for at least six months of the year.
In Germany, the rule is almost the same. Contrary to what Robert Ménard asserts, foreigners in Germany do not need to prove that they have been living in the country for years to receive family allowances, but must be able to prove that Germany is indeed their place of residence. major. Same in Austria.
In fact, in these two countries, there is even an additional flexibility. Family allowances are also granted to people who have come from another EU Member State, even if their child lives in another country, which is not allowed in France. Austria recently wanted to tighten its rules for granting family allowances to foreigners. She wanted to adapt the amounts paid according to the country of residence of the children, but the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled the measure “discriminatory”. In Denmark, on the other hand, a time limit for foreigners does exist. To receive 100% of the maximum amount of family allowances, it is necessary to justify at least 6 years of presence in the country. Below this period, the sums paid are greatly reduced.
Regarding housing assistance, Robert Ménard does not specify the assistance to which he refers. If we stick to the APL, which is the most widespread housing aid, the comparison is more complicated, in particular because in Germany, for example, there is no APL as such. There is indeed housing assistance, but very few Germans benefit from it. In Austria, a controversy over housing assistance shook the country in 2019. There was talk of granting housing assistance to foreigners on the condition that they speak perfect German, even if they could justify several years work in the country. This measure was ultimately ruled unconstitutional.
In addition, there are social aids in France whose payment to foreigners is conditional on their time in the territory. The RSA is paid to foreigners in regular situations only after 5 years spent in France with a residence permit allowing them to work. Same thing for the ASPA, the old minimum old age is granted only after holding a residence permit for at least 10 years.
How can everyone be better informed?
Participate in the consultation initiated as part of the European project De facto on the Make.org platform. Franceinfo is the partner