Elise Denjean, edited by Solène Leroux 06:26, February 11, 2022

The Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises, which represents small and medium-sized enterprises in France, presented its roadmap for the presidential election and the next five-year term.

76 proposals on five major themes that it wants to impose in the debate and the programs of the candidates.

It is the turn of small and medium-sized enterprises to make their proposals for the presidential election.

The Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME), which represents them, presented its roadmap for the next five-year term on Thursday.

76 proposals on five major themes that candidates should not take lightly.

The 1.8 million SMEs in France represent more than half of the country's salaried employment.

"They need a favorable environment," proclaims the president of the employers' organization, François Asselin.

"If France wants to succeed economically, it must make its SMEs succeed," he continues.

>> Find the morning of the day in replay and podcast here

To do this, the CPME makes several proposals to "value the work".

Modulate the duration of unemployment benefits according to the job market situation, for example, or even facilitate the transition between general education and vocational education.

Overhaul the overtime system

In addition, the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises proposes to review the overtime system.

"Today in France we can work more than 35 hours, but the problem is that the 36th hour costs the employer 25% more", explains François Asselin, who demands that these overtime hours be net of charge for company and net of tax for employees.

In other words, exempt them from tax for employees and eliminate employer contributions for companies.

A win-win game according to the employers' organization: both for companies and employees, who would thus gain in purchasing power, but also for the State.

According to his calculations, the cost of this measure would approach that of the inflation compensation set up by the government, ie nearly four billion euros.

The CPME is also calling for a reduction in the cost of labor and production taxes in order to bring them into line with European averages.

Another proposal: push back the retirement age to 65 and include a share of capitalization.