France changes the rules of the game for cross-border workers: unemployed risk losing benefits

After months of uncertainty and backtracking, the French government has officially approved tough changes to the rules on unemployment benefits for cross-border workers. Under a new decree published on Saturday, the assessment of "acceptable job offer" (offre raisonnable d'emploi, ORE) will now take into account wages typical of France - rather than the country of last employment, such as Luxembourg or Switzerland.

So far, France Travail services have encountered difficulties: salaries in Luxembourg and Switzerland are often much higher than in France. This has lengthened the period of unemployment and increased costs - by almost €800 million a year, according to the Ministry of Labour - for some 77,000 people.

Now, if an unemployed person refuses offers centred on French salaries twice, they could lose their benefit.

OGBL and CGT are already preparing legal action. According to Christian Simon-Lacroix, the decree, although not directly referring to cross-border workers, is essentially addressed to them. "This is an attempt to circumvent European legislation and a form of hidden discrimination," he said.

The French government says there are no plans to reduce the amount or duration of benefits. However, Paris is promoting the idea - that the countries in which cross-border workers are employed should bear the costs of their unemployment. For Luxembourg workers from the Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle, this means: the responsibility must fall on Luxembourg.