Overview
- The Senate amended the government-backed law on Tuesday and did not approve the text as presented, notably deleting the obligation for departments to contribute funding to the Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée experiment.
- The change forces the bill to return to the National Assembly for further readings, and the government warned there is no guarantee the parliamentary exchange will finish before the experiment legally ends at the close of 2026.
- More than 4,300 people working in 83 pilot territories would be directly affected if the experiment lapses, with local operators saying those jobs are long-term contracts created to reintegrate people excluded from work.
- Senators from the right and centre defended their amendments as protecting local fiscal autonomy and improving the text, while the government and supporters argue the move risks immediate job losses and operational uncertainty for firms called entreprises à but d’emploi.
- Lawmakers suggested a possible last-resort option of extending the experiment through the autumn finance bill, but that would be an emergency stopgap rather than the definitive permanency supporters in the Assembly seek.