“Incapable of resolving the problem at the European level, Unédic and the government intend to pick the pockets of border workers in difficulty,” we can read on the social network X. Seventy-two hours after the announcement of an agreement leading to a reduction in benefits for unemployed people who have worked in a country neighboring France, the measure has attracted strong criticism.
At the union level on the one hand, where organizations less concerned by border issues are accused of having accepted very unfavorable conditions for those concerned.
Also at the political level, where the Barnier government will not be able to count on the support of Moselle MP Isabelle Rauch (Horizons). In a press release sent on Monday, the one who had welcomed the appointment of Prime Minister LR denounces “a discriminatory measure which respects neither our principles nor previous court decisions (…) Cross-border workers would bear nearly 60% of the savings made then that they represent only 0.3% of unemployed people in France.
In question, the application of a reducing coefficient to unemployment compensation. According to our information, this would be between 0.22 and 0.29 for Luxembourg, a figure certainly lower than that first mentioned during negotiations. Clearly, unemployment compensation for workers who held their last job in Luxembourg would be calculated by reducing their basic income by almost or more than a quarter.
Coupled with the reduction in the duration of compensation for unemployed people aged between 53 and 57, the loss would prove significant for certain specific profiles. Too important. This is the opinion of the border section of the OGBL, while a united front is being formed between several trade union organizations in France, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
“This is yet another targeted discrimination, reminiscent of that of scholarships for which Luxembourg was condemned before European justice,” notes Christian Simon Lacroix, union leader. While waiting for a possible mobilization associated with other causes, the unions are considering attacking this measure before the Council of State in France, before a possible appeal to the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union).
On the political level, Ms. Rauch, associated with other elected officials from French border regions, calls for the removal of the measure, pleading for a reform of the functioning of the affiliation system, which would result in Luxembourg taking responsibility for unemployment border crossers. A European debate not yet close to reaching a conclusion…
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