French Assembly Set to Approve Tougher Anti-Fraud Bill in First Reading

Overview

• The National Assembly, which moved to a first-reading vote Tuesday, advanced a hardened text after days of chaotic debate and opposition filibusters.
• One provision lets France Travail, the public job agency, suspend unemployment payments for up to three months when it has serious signs of fraud, with a safeguard to preserve basic household needs.
• New enforcement tools widen checks and data use, including access to bank statements to detect fraud in the RSA welfare benefit for low-income households, expanded data sharing between the national health insurer and complementary insurers, and a fast-track power to freeze company assets when undeclared work is suspected.
• Health and transport rules tighten, with a ban on prescribing or renewing sick leave by telemedicine and a requirement that patient-transport vehicles carry geolocation devices to verify billed trips.
• Penalties were stiffened by numerous amendments, including a National Rally measure setting a minimum fine equal to triple any benefits taken, as left-wing parties criticized the focus on social fraud over tax fraud often estimated at €80–100 billion versus €13–14 billion for social fraud.