The discussions were long, very long. But this Wednesday (at 4 a.m.), the Senate adopted at first reading, the second part of the measures in support of purchasing power. Revaluation of pensions and social minima, pumping-up and RTT “redeemable”… It is difficult to navigate this parliamentary jungle. Don’t worry, 20 minutes takes stock of what will change for you. Follow the map.

4% revaluation of pensions and social minima

First step of our “Backpacker’s Guide” measures for purchasing power: social benefits, social minima and pensions are increased by 4%. The Senate has validated this boost. The upper house also voted to raise the index point for civil servants. Retirement pensions, already indexed to inflation in January, will therefore benefit from an increase of 5.1% over the year 2022. As for the RSA, it goes from 575 euros to 598 euros.

Rent capping

A stopover on the accommodation side is essential. The new measures for purchasing power provide for a revaluation of personalized housing assistance (APL) of 3.5%. In addition, the increase in rents is capped at a maximum of 3.5% for one year, starting on October 15. Tonight, the Senate also extended this cap to the premises of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Thirty cents discount at the pump

After the “rent shield”, we look at the “energy tariff shield”. Inflation continues to gallop and, while the price of road fuels fell last week, it remains very expensive to refuel for many French people. At petrol stations, the discount on a litre of fuel is currently 18 cents. However, it will increase to 30 cents in September-October and then ten cents in November-December.

Biometric Carte Vitale

The Senate voted 20 million credits to launch the implementation of a biometric Vitale card. It will be equipped with a chip integrating the physical characteristics of the insured in order to limit fraud and make it possible to verify that it is neither a fake card nor a “borrowed” card. The senators adopted by 242 votes to 95 an amendment carried by Philippe Mouiller (LR) providing for “the first credits to launch in autumn 2022 the work of setting up a biometric Vitale card”.

Deconjugalization of the disabled adult allowance

The Senate has validated the deconjugalization of the Allowance for Disabled Adults (AAH), already dubbed by the National Assembly. On 1 October 2023, the income of spouses of people with disabilities will no longer be taken into account in the calculation of the aid. This was a recurring request from the associations. Under the current system, a disabled person in a couple can see the amount of this aid decrease if his spouse earns more than 1,020 euros net per month or even abolished from 2,270 euros net. A situation that can be addictive.

The back-to-school bonus takes a hit

Provoking an outcry on the left, the senators replaced, against the advice of the government, the exceptional re-entry bonus of 100 euros, reserved for social minima, by an exceptional increase of 150 euros for beneficiaries of the activity bonus. However, this provision could be discussed again in the Joint Joint Committee on Wednesday evening and could therefore be amended again by parliamentarians.

Tax exemption for overtime and acquisition of RTT

With the support of economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, the Senate has perpetuated the increase from 5,000 to 7,500 euros of the tax exemption ceiling for overtime, voted by the National Assembly for the year 2022 alone.

The High Assembly also voted, against the advice of the government, the perpetuation of the possibility for companies to buy back from employees on RTT days, planned by the deputies only until the end of 2023 – redemption exempt from taxes and contributions. The left opposed it, believing that this measure amounted to “burying the 35 hours” in the words of Thomas Dossus (EELV).

Additional support for communities

At the end of the day tuesday, the Senate voted with the partial approval of the government to provide additional support to local authorities, affected in particular by the increase in energy prices and the increase in the index point of civil servants, bringing the total envelope to 750 million euros.

Death of the audiovisual licence fee and facilitated online terminations

Not surprisingly, the Senate also voted to abolish the TV fee, a promise made by Emmanuel Macron. Worth €138 in metropolitan France and €88 overseas this year, the licence fee brought in €3.2 billion of the €3.8 billion paid to public broadcasting. The text plans to allocate to public broadcasting “a fraction” of VAT, for an amount of about 3.7 billion euros, in order to address concerns about its financing.

Like the deputies, the senators have adopted the “termination in 3 clicks” which should make it easier to cancel a subscription or an online contract. From 2023, it will be mandatory for sites that offer an online subscription to also offer an online termination. This will make life easier for consumers.