Legislative decree and accelerated procedure. Macron on the labor reform, the French-style Jobs Act inspired in part by the law approved by the Renzi government, does not want to waste time. The bill, which will be the first testing ground for the new President of the Republic (immediately after it will be the turn of pensions), was presented on Wednesday 28 June in the Council of Ministers and has the first objective is greater flexibility in the labor market: "It is a reform that will bring more social and economic dialogue - said Labor Minister Muriel Pénicaud -, which will bring more freedom but also more security".
The document is made up of nine articles, five of which illustrate the cornerstones of the reform promised by Macron in the electoral campaign: the possibility of derogating from collective labor agreements through company-union agreements, the merger of workers' representative bodies to simplify social dialogue, mandatory for compensation to workers dismissed without just cause. There are also other hot topics on the plate, such as that of dismissal for economic reasons, which the current El Khomri law has distinguished from that for personal reasons. Economic dismissal is allowed, except for protected categories and only after the company has tried in every possible way to reclassify the worker, if it is ascertained that for a certain period (depending on its size) the company has reduced significantly increased its turnover or increased losses.
At the moment the reform does not displease the unions wholly, they said ready for dialogue even if not yet totally convinced. For this reason they have obtained a series of tables that will continue throughout the summer, in parallel with the parliamentary process of the law. The most important meeting will be held in August with all union representatives, even if some acronyms have already announced a one-day strike for September 12, shortly before September 20, the date by which the government plans to close the case. The tool chosen is that oforder, comparable to our legislative decree, with an accelerated procedure that limits the passages between the Chamber and the Senate (they become a maximum of 4 instead of 6) and precisely delegates to the Executive to legislate on a specific sector, subject to the consent of Parliament.
In September Macron will then continue with the other social reforms in the pipeline, which according to the timetable must be completed in the first 18 months of his mandate, therefore by the end of 2018. On the table are the unemployment benefit (which will be extended), the social security contributions, and above all pensions, the real issue awaiting the new president: the reform already foresees that 60% of French pensioners will be penalized in some way, but Macron plans to compensate with the abolition of the tax on first homes for 80% of those who currently pay it, therefore first of all the weaker and indeed elderly.
