Tax cuts for 8m households in 2016
Tax cuts, work law reforms and helping refugees were among topics of the president's rentrée press conference
EIGHT million households will benefit from new income tax cuts in 2016 said President François Hollande, in his sixth Elysée press conference.
Reductions of €2 billion would be financed by government savings, he said, adding that France would also continue with plans for income tax reforms including ‘at-source’ taxation by 2018.
The cuts along with plans for a new law reforming the Code du Travail – the laws surrounding working rules – were the headline items of the event.
Mr Hollande said planned changes to the Code du Travail would not affect basic “guarantees” such as the minimum wage or legal working hours, but would look at ways to make them more “adaptable” and “flexible”.
A report will be presented to the prime minister tomorrow on this, after which there will be discussions with unions with a view to a bill in the next few months.
The president also spoke about the migrant crisis and the war in Syria, saying France would pledge to take 24,000 refugees over the next two years out of some 120,000 that the EU wishes to be shared out among member states.
He confirmed that France expects to join in air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, with reconnaissance flights being organised from today to gather information.
However, he ruled out sending ground troops. That was for the Syrians and their neighbours to do, the president said - if France sent troops it would be an “occupying force”.
He said the best solution would be toppling Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his government being replaced by a new “national union” government , but “without the terrorists”.
The president also referred to the setting up of new control centres to help process migrants’ claims and identify which are genuine refugees and to send home those who are not. France would also be helping other countries through which refugees are passing – notably in Africa – to do the same before they get to Europe.
An international conference on the refugee crisis may be held in Paris in November.
Among other matters Mr Hollande spoke of the need to push forward with the ratification of the European Charter on Minority Languages – a long delayed measure which would give extra promotion and protection to languages like Breton or Alsatian – and said he is considering voting reforms, perhaps introducing an element of proportional representation.
On unemployment he gave no new promises, though he said lowering it was a “moral requirement”.
The president also referred to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Paris in December, warning that participants were “still a long way off having a binding agreement and suitable financing” (referring to the problem of agreeing on funds to help developing countries to meet targets).
Progress must be made in the next three months, he said.
Photo: Screenshot from iTélé
