PLFSS 2024: The Government's promises to the self-employed are not kept

The self-employed feel betrayed. During discussions on pension reform over the past few months, the government promised to review the terms and conditions of their social security contributions. But this long-awaited reform, included in the first Social Security Financing Bill for 2024 (PLFSS 2024), has been sacrificed on the altar of budget restrictions.

This reform of the social security base for the self-employed was intended to bring about greater equity in social security contributions between the self-employed and salaried workers, and to improve the retirement rights of the self-employed. Today, for equal incomes, the self-employed are required to pay contributions based on a higher tax base, and their CSG/CRDS contribution is therefore higher than that of employees.

Discussions with professional organizations representing the self-employed had led to a proposal to transfer the savings made by lowering the CSG contribution base to pension funds via an increase in pension contributions (but thereby opening up greater pension entitlements). The self-employed would therefore pay less CSG, but more pension contributions, and had accepted an increase.

The reform, as envisaged, would be favorable for 82% of the self-employed and neutral for 13%, while for the remaining 5% (not including photographers) it would result in an increase in their social security contributions. New negotiations could be held for the minority of self-employed workers negatively affected.

However, this reform would result in a shortfall of almost 1 billion euros for the Social Security system. The French Ministry of Public Accounts has therefore decided to put it on hold and remove it from the PLFSS 2024, which was submitted to the National Assembly on September 27. As a result, professional organizations have stepped up to the plate to defend this measure, to which Bercy had committed itself.

The Minister of the Economy sought to reassure professional organizations: "A commitment made must be a commitment kept, [...] we're going to do it", asserted Bruno Le Maire. "We must, within the framework of the parliamentary debate, align the lives of the self-employed with those of salaried employees. That would be the least we could do, speaking of a measure that has been mooted since the 2020 report of the Haut conseil pour le financement de la protection sociale (HCFIPS) on the social protection of the self-employed, and promised both by candidate Macron in 2021 and by Bercy when it sought the support of professional organizations on its pension reform....