Given that consumer price inflation reached 4.5 percent in March, the two finalists in the race for the Elysée Palace sparred on Wednesday evening on the issue of buying power. He said that he supported the reassessment of social minimum beginning this summer in order to account for excessive inflation. He is running for president in 2016.
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| Marine Le Pen |
French people are most concerned about their ability to purchase goods and services before the second round of the presidential election, according to an Opinion Way-Kéapartners barometer published by the newspaper "Les Echos." As a result, this was the first topic addressed during the televised discussion between the two finalists on Wednesday evening.
For a long time, Marine Le Pen has recognized the significance of this problem, and she has made it one of the central issues of her presidential campaign. Emmanuel Macron lauded his balance sheet in particular, noting that the unemployment rate has been cut to roughly 7 percent since he took office. He has promised to achieve full employment by 2027 if he is re-elected to a second term. Despite the fact that he has implemented a number of other steps in recent weeks, this is his primary reaction to worries about buying power.
Consumer support
he brought up the concept of a meal voucher, which he had previously floated about in December 2020. The Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, said on France 3 last Sunday that it was an issue of ensuring that 8 million low-income people have access to high-quality French food items. If Emmanuel Macron wins the presidential election on Sunday, he promised that the investigation will begin "soon after the election."
On this project, which has so far met challenges in its execution, there is still a certain amount of ambiguity. According on its criteria (distribution route, product kind, among others), the state's financial burden might range from a few hundred million euros to three billion euros.
The executive made the decision to take a "inflation allowance" last autumn as a result of Bercy's influence. Other steps have been implemented to keep the energy bill under control, all of which have come at a considerable financial cost.
0% Vat
Alternatively, Marine Le Pen proposes a VAT-free basket of 100 "essential requirements" items, which she guarantees would be exempt from VAT. During the heated discussion that followed the crisis of the "yellow vests," this invention received widespread praise. The problem is that the decrease in VAT is quite expensive in terms of the outcomes obtained. Indeed, it has a little positive impact on consumers, as seen by the lower VAT on catering services, which has been somewhat offset by price hikes excluding tax. Another problem is that wealthier families get the same benefits as those in need. Marine Le Pen did not react to the points on which President Emmanuel Macron pressed repeatedly throughout the discussion on Wednesday evening, describing the legislation as "ineffective and unjust."
Marine Le Pen, who recently assailed the President of the Republic over the carbon tax, wants to decrease the value added tax (VAT) on gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and household fuel oil from 20 percent to 5.5 percent in order to combat rising energy costs. However, even though Europe provides greater freedom to states in terms of decreased VAT, it has prohibited this sort of increase for products and services that are harmful to the environment by 2030.
Helping workers
According to Marine Le Pen's presidential campaign on Wednesday evening, "the most effective approach to increase buying power is to eliminate unemployment." She pointed out that the term "unemployment" was not used in any of Marine Le Pen's proposed policies. The Macron campaign's first aim is to pressure corporations to share their earnings with their workers.
Companies that pay a bonus for salary of up to three SMIC, for a total of up to 6,000 euros, would be excluded from paying tax, according to the president-proposal. candidate's
After taking note of the dismal results produced thus far in the areas of profit-sharing and participation, he indicated that he intended to "simplify" these devices over the summer of 2011. He has no plans to implement the requirement that a corporation may only pay dividends provided it also compensates its workers in other places. The notion causes consternation among the company's executives. According to the labor unions, there is a possibility that these procedures will be detrimental to wage rises in the future.
The announcement by Emmanuel Macron that the index point in the public sector will be unfrozen by next summer caught everyone off guard. Following criticism from Marine Le Pen, he also stated Wednesday evening that the social minimum, as well as pensions, will be revalued from July to account for high inflation, in response to her criticism that he had frozen pensions at the start of his term.
Companies would be able to raise salaries by 10% (up to 3 SMIC) without increasing employer payments, according to Marine Le Pen's proposal, which would be effective starting in 2020 for a period of five years. Because the rise would have a long-term impact on the wage grid, it is probable that the policy will benefit mostly workers who would have received a raise regardless of the increase.
In addition, the candidate proposes a tax concession: he would exclude people under the age of 30 from paying income tax. This plan is likely to be rejected by the Constitutional Council since it establishes a distinction based on age rather than on financial means, which is contrary to the Constitution.
Public services
The two candidates have come to an agreement on one measure: the elimination of the 138-euro "television charge." According to President Emmanuel Macron, this gesture is a natural extension of his previous decision to abolish the home tax. Whereas Marine Le Pen wants to sell the public audiovisual industry, the candidate LREM is contemplating funding it over a longer period of time.
Aside from that, the RN candidate wants to " renationalize the roadways" in order to lower tolls by 15 percent. The socialists had already thrown their support behind the concept. This remains a question, with the possibility of a stalemate between highway concessionaires and the government over compensation up to the hefty earnings predicted until 2036, the date of the termination of their concessions in question.