As reported by Politico.eu, the French Republic’s recently elected president is keen to deliver upon his promise to kickstart France’s economy through long-overdue, but wickedly controversial, structural reforms, in what appears to be a bid by President Emmanuel Macron to staunch the short-term political wounds early into his presidential term. This should afford the President enough time that the true effects of his ‘Copernican revolution’ can be judged on their merits. Given the current low-ebb in his popularity, which currently stands at a derisive -14 percent favourability according to the latest IFOP polls (down from an immediate post-election high of +62 percent), this may be a calculated gamble by the Fifth Republic’s neophyte would-be Dauphin to absorb the early pain in the hopes of reaping the electoral rewards later.

But is the controversy surrounding President Macron’s much-promised labour reforms truly warranted? Here’s a summary of the plan so far:

First of all, and arguably most controversially, is the proposal to reduce the role of sector-wide collective bargaining in the workplace, whilst simultaneously increasing individually-negotiated employee contracts agreed between the employee and the employer. Here, the potential for misuse and abuse by employers with a power imbalance over their employees is quite clear, and is undoubtedly the source of much of the antagonism the proposal has already generated within France’s trades union sector. A secondary aspect to this proposal is “wage flexibility”, which would permit employers to agree what would – in practice – amount to a wage freeze (either in real per capita income terms, or simply through a reduction in working hours, as is the case with Germany’s Hartz Reforms) when supposed market conditions warrant it. Who decides what those conditions are, how and/or if they have been met, and indeed, the duration of those conditions, is yet to be determined. Expect to hear more on this point.

The second plank in President Macron’s proposed reforms concerns corporate profitability and employee redundancies. As things currently stand, if a French-based company wishes to cut the number of active employees in order to reduce costs, French labour law inhibits management’s freedom to do so if and when the company maintains corporate profitability in its global operations, even where its French operations are loss-making. France’s declining steel industry is a good example of the “difficulties” employers sometimes incur on this basis. Under the new proposals, however, global corporate profitability will no longer be a sufficient impediment to the termination of a company’s French employees if the France-based branch of that company is not profitable; this represents a significant degradation of France’s famously robust employee protections. Given globalised supply chains and production patterns, French workers would be well within their existing rights to query why their job security should be threatened by a company’s overseas operations being more profitable due to lower per unit wage labour costs. Anachronistic or not, it is clear that a solution has still to be settled upon as regards the rights of nationally-based labour in the face of globally-based corporate profitability.

Proposal three in the Macron labour market reforms package is the regularisation and minimisation of damages in the case of wrongful dismissal. Whereas under existing law there is no upper ceiling on the amount of damages arbitration courts can award to a terminated employee in the case of wrongful dismissal, under the recommended amendments, the amount of damages that can be awarded is to be regularised in line with the duration of the terminated employee’s employment prior to having been wrongfully dismissed. As reported in the Politico article, this is likely to be a highly unpopular amendment with employees, but does have the benefit for France-based companies in terms of the predictability of their potential financial liabilities.

When it comes to labour laws, France is notorious for its bureaucratic red tape, which in some ways is what makes President Macron’s fourth labour law reform proposal so interesting. Designed with Small- to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in mind, the fourth proposal seeks to reduce the costs of bureaucratic red tape by reducing the duplication – or, in this case, triplication – of requirements once an SME hires their 50th employee. In place of nominated workers’ representations, works councils, and occupational health and safety committees, a single and simplified structure will take their place. As reported by France24, whilst this may be a necessary reform to help SMEs ‘streamline negotiating channels within companies’, thereby reducing operational costs (which may benefit French employees in the medium term), there is a risk that these efficiency drives may come at the expense of employee representation, participation in the workplace, and indeed, worker safety.

The final proposal, meanwhile, is to effectively de-nationalise the regulation of short-term contracts; the benefits and conditions for long-term, permanent contracts remain unchanged. For employees working casual, part-time, or in mini-/midi-jobs, however, the proposals could be significant. Under current conditions, the duration and number of times a short-term contract can be renewed (a maximum of two times) are both set by national law. The proposal, however, would see both the duration and renewal conditions determined sector-by-sector, such that the newspaper industry might decide upon four month contracts and a maximum of six renewals. Whilst this could permit greater cross-sector flexibility in the French economy, an increased prevalence in short-term contracts as seen in French academia does incur both personal risk and opportunity costs for the employee, but at minimal risk to the employer.

As his personal popularity continues to plummet, and in spite of the obvious necessity for reform to help deal with long-term unemployment in France which consistently remains above the OECD average, President Macron’s reforms seem set for a hard sell even with parliamentary support already assured. With Reuters reporting that France’s powerful General Confederation of Labour (CGT) trade union has called for nationwide protests against the proposals for September 12, it might be rued by Macron that only in France is a President protested against for delivering on a campaign promise: C’est la vie, c’est la France.

External contribution by Timothy Palmer

The post Macron Mimics Margaret: French Labour Reforms appeared first on My Country? Europe..

Electoral System

There are 577 seats up for contention, one from each constituency. The election takes place in two rounds, each applying a first-past the post system. To win during the first round, which will take place on 11^th June, candidates will need to obtain the absolute majority of votes – more votes than all their opponents’ summed.

If none of the candidates manage this, which is usually the case, then all of those who have obtained 12.5% or more of the valid votes proceed to the second round, which will take place on 18^th June. During this second round, the candidate with the relative majority of the votes will be elected as member of the National Assembly.

Main Parties

France is a country with a very wide array of parties, however there are some which have historically had more relevant than others. The Socialists and the centre-right Republicans have been alternating in running the country since the 1950s. However, with the last presidential elections it has become obvious that they have failed in re-kindling any enthusiasm in voters.

Instead, it has been the far-right Front National led by Le Pen and two new parties who have monopolised the scene. This year, French politics have been shaken up by Macron’s new radical centrist party – running in the elections as La République En Marche ! – which aims to transcend the traditional left/right distinction and alligns with liberalism both economically and socially. Moreover, also the left-wing has seen the birth of a new socialist party: La France Insoumise, founded by presidential candidate Mélenchon.

Issues of European Relevance

These elections are set to have an unprecedented weight in European geopolitics and especially in domestic EU politics. If Macron were to gain a working majority, with or without the support of other minor parties, it would guarantee that the much awaited overhaul of the EU could go ahead with the blessings of the French Parliament. Because of France’s considerable weigh in the EU as one of the founding members and key member State, a strong, united front in pushing for reforms could possibly go a long way to speed up the looming changes.

Polls

Because of the electoral system giving rise to many pre-election deals and candidates dropping out after the first round, it is impossible to predict how many seats each party will get. However, voting intention polls indicate that Macron’s La République En Marche ! is prospected a landslide win with 33% of the preferences, which would give him enough seats to govern comfortably.

Republicans are lagging behind. Together with their allies, they’re polling around 20% – only slightly ahead of Le Pen’s Front National. The Socialists and more generally the left are set to confirm Hamon’s catastrophic results in the presidential elections: with trust in them at an all-time low, they are polling at around 7%. The one exception to this decline is Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise, which has gathered alone around 12% of preferences.

The post French Legislative Elections: All You Need To Know appeared first on My Country? Europe..

Here’s a hook up selection from our European leaders!

The post Federalist love notes appeared first on My Country? Europe..