On 24 July 2000, the French government officially announced that it would not approve a new agreement reforming the UNEDIC unemployment insurance system, signed by employers' organisations (CGPME, MEDEF and UPA) and two trade union confederations (CFDT and CFTC). In the light of this decision, these unions and employers' organisations took a joint decision "temporarily to withdraw from the administrative board of UNEDIC".
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On 24 July 2000, the French government officially announced that it would not approve a new agreement reforming the UNEDIC unemployment insurance system, signed by employers' organisations (CGPME, MEDEF and UPA) and two trade union confederations (CFDT and CFTC). In the light of this decision, these unions and employers' organisations took a joint decision "temporarily to withdraw from the administrative board of UNEDIC".
After six months of negotiations, a draft agreement to replace the current agreement on the UNEDIC unemployment insurance system, due to expire on 30 June 2000, was signed on 14 June 2000 (FR0006171F). It provided for the overhaul of the entire unemployment benefit system, based on a new "employment action plan" (Plan d'aide au retour à l'emploi, PARE). The agreement was officially signed by all the employers' associations represented on the UNEDIC board - the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF), the General Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confédération générale des petites et moyennes entreprises, CGPME) and the Craftwork Employers' Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA) - but by only two of the five representative trade union confederations, CFDT and CFTC. Faced with strong opposition from the other unions - CFE-CGC, CGT and CGT-FO- and unrest within the political parties in its parliamentary majority, the government took some extra time to consider approving the agreement (FR0007176N). It decided against doing so.
On 24 July 2000, in a letter to the organisations which signed the 14 June agreement, Martine Aubry, the Minister for Employment and Solidarity and Laurent Fabius, the Minister for Economy and Finance, detailed the reasons "which had prompted the government to decide not to endorse" the deal. The government views "some provisions [in the agreement] as either at odds with stated goals or as potentially dangerous for job-seekers". The government considers that the rise in the number of unemployed people covered by the benefit system and the increase in benefit levels provided for by the agreement will not be meaningful, whereas the planned cut in contributions will mostly benefit companies. It also maintains that the required funding for the PARE scheme has not been guaranteed.
In making these criticisms, the government is reasserting the areas of unemployment insurance it considers to be the jurisdiction of the state - in particular, penalties, control of the state-run employment service (Agence nationale pour l'emploi, ANPE) and its role as guardian of equality. In addition, by challenging the exclusion of those representative unions which did not sign the 14 June agreement (CFE-CGC, CGT and CGT-FO) from the unemployment insurance management bodies, the government is taking on the role of arbitrator of the rules governing industrial relations.
However, in an attempt to create a more secure status for unemployed people, the government has endorsed the provisions in the agreement relating to "retraining plans" (conventions de conversion- a personalised voluntary scheme providing assistance for redundant workers to return to employment) as well as the continuation of the ARPE"early retirement for jobs" scheme. It is also calling for a resumption of negotiations.
At a joint press conference, the five organisations which signed the agreement announced their decision "temporarily to withdraw from the administrative board of UNEDIC". However, this withdrawal, which follows MEDEF's earlier repeated threats to pull out of jointly-managed social protection agencies (FR9912122F), is not definitive. The five trade union and employers' organisations agreed to meet on 4 September 2000 to decide their future stance, after consultation with their decision-making bodies.
These organisations condemn the government's attitude, which they equate with an "abuse of power", and are threatening to take the matter to the appropriate jurisdiction. They particularly criticise the government's partial endorsement of particular parts of the agreement, such as ARPE and the retraining plan, without considering the agreement as a whole. In addition, the signatory organisations intend to provide a "point-by-point" reply to the ministers' statements, which in their opinion, "presented the agreement in a partisan and biased light".
Those organisations that did not sign the 14 June agreement have all in turn expressed their satisfaction at the government's decision. CGT-FO maintains that negotiations should be reconvened, CFE-CGC is ready to resume talks, while CGT states that MEDEF's industrial relations overhaul strategy has experienced a setback.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), Government refuses to approve new UNEDIC agreement, article.
