The socialist president of the department of Gironde, Jean-Luc Gleyze.

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MEHDI FEDOUACH / AFP

  • The president (PS) of the departmental council of Gironde Jean-Luc Gleyze has been carrying out a declining basic income project since 2017.

  • It should make it possible to guarantee a part of the citizens, who live below a certain level of resources, a supplement of income raising them to the level of the poverty line.

  • The Gironde is awaiting a national green light, like other departmental councils, to embark on a generalization of basic income, considered as an emergency by the department in the current social context.

Two years ago, the proposal to experiment with a basic income carried by several departments including the Gironde had been swept by the National Assembly.

The idea has obviously gained ground since the deputies have just voted for a resolution which, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, considers “an unconditional and universal safety net for all” necessary.

Jean Luc Gleyze, socialist president of the Department of the Gironde who carries a basic income project answers

20 Minutes

questions

on the subject.

Why did the resolution of the National Assembly make you react?

With other departments, we reacted immediately in an open letter in which, noting that the National Assembly is opening the door, we stress that we are present to experience a basic income.

This resolution comes in the form of a majority admission to recognize that what was proposed two years ago and that the deputies had refused to debate today not only deserves a debate in the National Assembly, but a national and citizen debate.

At the Gironde scale, there has already been a citizen debate on the subject and you therefore wish to go further now?

The citizen debate for us has already taken place in 2017 so that the inhabitants give their vision.

At the time, we launched a digital platform on which we collected 15,000 contributions.

We can submit these conclusions and that of the citizen jury to the National Assembly.

The time is no longer for debate, but for application.

Two years ago, we wanted an experiment, but today, the social emergency immediately justifies the establishment of an income type basic income.

What form would the basic income take in Gironde if a national green light is given?

What we are proposing is a merger between the active solidarity income (RSA) and the activity bonus, which does not include personalized housing assistance (APL) or allowances linked to disability and old age. .

It is also an income that should cover the non-access to rights (the 30% who today are eligible but do not benefit from the RSA) by including young people between 18 and 25 years old.

We defend an automatic payment as soon as we meet the conditions and with the tax at source, we are able to make these payments month by month.

The average basic income was established at 860 euros by the consultation but we are aiming more for the poverty line, which stands at 1,000 euros.

The idea is very concretely to help, for example, a retiree who earns 650 to 700 euros currently to obtain 1,000 euros.

We would not pay basic income to all citizens, but only up to a certain income level.

This makes it possible to envisage a credible funding model at the national level.

If we start from a universal model, we need a tax reform, that is to say, we must consider tax redistribution from the richest to the poorest.

Young people aged 18-25 would be among the beneficiaries.

Why is this important to you?

They are often excluded from social minima.

This is a factor of inequality in studies because those whose families cannot afford to help them have to find odd jobs.

How long would it take to implement the declining model in the department?

It would take eight to ten months to deploy this model there.

But we are already able to set up a basic income in a very operational way, in 24 departments.

Only socialist departments signed the open letter, is it a party struggle?

I think that today it is no longer a left fight but a social fight which is shared by several fringes of the population, whatever the political persuasions.

The Covid 19 crisis is opening the eyes of our citizens.

Beyond that, there is a real social debate to be had on social protection and on the value of work versus the value of social utility.

For example, if we take the case of a mother who stops working to take care of her disabled child, should we leave her in a precarious situation by paying her only the RSA or can we consider that she has a real social utility?

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