what are Gabriel Attal’s ideas for the next reform planned for this year?

The Prime Minister notably spoke out, Wednesday evening, in favor of a reduction in the duration of compensation for the unemployed, “by several months”.

For the third time since 2017, an Emmanuel Macron government is putting unemployment insurance reform on track. Gabriel Attal announced, Wednesday March 27 on TF1, that he had asked his Minister of Labor “to prepare new negotiations” on unemployment insurance, which has a budget of 45 billion euros each year. “There will be a reform of unemployment insurance this year”declared the Prime Minister, who spoke of his preferences for modifying the current system.

Several types of parameters must be taken into account for unemployment compensation: the duration of compensation, the duration necessary to benefit from compensation or the amount of compensation paid to job seekers.

Gabriel Attal first mentioned the first category, while the duration of compensation for the unemployed has already been lowered from 24 to 18 months in February 2023, as a general rule. “One of the options is to reduce this compensation period by several months,” but “I don’t think it should go less than 12 months”he estimated.

The level of compensation unchanged?

Currently, you must have worked six months over the previous two years to receive unemployment benefit. “Here too, we can imagine either saying: ‘We need to work more over the last 24 months’ or saying that the six months are assessed over a shorter period which is, for example, 18 months”launched the Prime Minister.

Finally, Gabriel Attal addressed the third lever, that of the level of unemployment compensation, with a reduction in compensation over time spent without work. “Here too, this is one of the avenues, which is less my preference than the two previous ones, but we will let the social partners work”warned the Prime Minister.

In terms of calendar, the former government spokesperson “wants us to have the parameters of this reform in the summer, so that it can come into force in the fall”.