Proposition 50K1603

Projet de loi concernant le droit à l'intégration sociale.

General information ¶

Submitted by

Groen Open Vld Vooruit PS | SP Ecolo MR Verhofstadt Ⅰ

Submission date

Jan. 23, 2002

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

subsistence level income welfare

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR

Abstained from voting

FN VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Vincent Decroly (Ecolo) voted to reject.

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Discussion ¶

April 17, 2002 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, dear colleagues, the Public Health Committee examined this bill on February 19, 21 and 26 and on March 12, 19, 26 and 28, i.e. for 7 days. by

In his introductory explanation, the minister recalled that the 1974 law establishing the minimum of means of subsistence was no longer suitable for profound economic and social changes. by

The model of social protection based solely on financial social assistance is outdated. Participation in social life can take different forms, but access to a paid job remains the safest way to acquire autonomy. by

The bill enshrines the right to social inclusion. by

For some, this will be a first professional experience. For others, it will be a full-time training or even full-time studies. For others, it will be an individualized social pathway to enable the person to actively integrate into society. by

The bill also aims to pay special attention to young people between the ages of 18 and 25. by

Here a real right to employment is created which can be realised by a labor contract or by an individualized project that leads to employment. by

Here a real right to employment is created, which can be realised by a labor contract or by an individualized project that leads to employment. In case of employment, the labour legislation will apply and the young person will be guaranteed at least the guaranteed minimum wage. If necessary, young people will also be able to receive individualized training and support to prepare them for entry into the labour market.

When the young person’s level of qualification is insufficient, the CPAS will be able to assist the young person in undertaking or continuing full-time studies through integration contracts.

Along with the activation of financial allocations, the bill provides for a 4% increase in the integration income. This increase was anticipated by the government. In its priorities for the years 2002-2003, the government envisages a further increase in the integration income according to the budget availability.

Beyond the 4% increase, the increase must be followed, in parallel, by an increase in certain minimum social benefits. Further adjustments to the minimex law have been made necessary by the social developments of the last 20 years.

Therefore, the categories of rightholders have been revised accordingly. The rights of spouses are individualized in order to put married couples and unmarried couples on an equal footing. A new category is created to take into account alternate custody situations and the situation of isolated persons who must pay maintenance for a child.

Similarly, in the case of divorce or separation, it is increasingly common for parents to continue to exercise parental authority together on an equal footing. The legislation has therefore been adapted to take these situations into account. In addition, the bill provides for an improvement in the rights of CPAS users during the period of consideration of their application.

In case of negotiation of a work contract or a contract containing an individualized project of social integration with the CPAS, the applicant will be able to be accompanied by a person of his choice and will have a period of reflection before engaging.

Finally, the scope of the law is extended to foreigners registered in the population register in order to ensure better social integration of this target group.

These new tasks that the draft law entrusts to the CPAS, however, require the provision of additional resources in favour of the CPAS. Without social accompaniment, the original purpose of the law cannot be achieved. Therefore, a flat-rate financing of administrative expenses related to a social integration file is provided as an intervention in personnel expenses. Youth jobs and student integration contracts will also be better funded in the future.

On 26 February 2002, the commission organized the hearings of representatives of the Centre for Combating Poverty, Precarity and Social Exclusion, representatives of trade unions and the Union of Cities and Municipalities (CPAS section). Written opinions from three university professors were also delivered. The general discussion focused, first of all, on the presentation of the proposals attached to this project.

Ms. Gilkinet, De Meyer and Avontroodt and M. Mayeur had the opportunity to explain the scope of their bill proposals. Then, the political groups expressed more specifically their views on the bill. Thus, Ms. Van Weert stated that she supports the principle and philosophy of the project. However, there are still some problems to be solved. There is a need for more coordination with the poor associations. The CPAS raise questions regarding the implementation of the project: compliance with the deadlines, sufficiency of the resources available, competence of the federal authority in matters of placement, timing regarding the increase of 6% of the minimum means of subsistence and problematic of the recovery of aid granted from food debtors.

by Mr. Vande Walle said that he signed the bill. He expressed some reservations regarding the division of competences between the CPAS and the VDAB, respect for the right granted to young people to get a job within three months, and the division of competences between the federal and the regions in terms of employment.

To see whether these competences have been compromised, it will be necessary to wait for the implementation of the measures envisaged. Regarding the categories of beneficiaries, the speaker expressed concern about the financial incentives benefited by the isolated. Child care is taken into account only for the isolated, at the expense of the cohabitants.

Creating a new category of isolated persons with a maintenance obligation is also discriminatory.

by Mr. Paque considers that the bill is not a revolution. The main change lies in the axis of intervention towards people in difficulty which will no longer be a right to a “vital” income but the right to social integration. This is a new approach to assistance that can be agreed with a priori.

Several questions remain: why not have adapted the law of 7 August 1974 through an evaluation of it; by strengthening the contractual character of the last net of solidarity, does the project not risk being an additional exclusion factor? Moreover, activation policies themselves have their limits.

The integration income remains manifestly insufficient. As this policy becomes even more binding, it inevitably risks increasing the exclusion of the poorest. For students, the legal recognition of the study project could constitute a downturn from the present situation that allows the student to be dispensed from his availability at work to pursue full-time studies.

by Mr. Paque subsequently asked some general questions concerning the legal mission of the CPAS in the field of occupational insertion, the problem of young people under the age of 25, the proportional counting in the various alternate childcare formulas and the inclusion, in the project, of provisions arising from the charter of the social insured.

by Mr. Mayeur, on the other hand, has shown his full support for the bill.

From social assistance, we moved to social assistance in 1976 and today we are moving toward social inclusion, which implies that the public sector must play an active role. The criticisms heard so far against the bill actually targeted the 1974 law and its application rather than the bill itself.

Article 6 of the draft law stipulates that everyone under the age of 25 has the right to social integration adapted to their personal situation. It will therefore be an effective right that will now be incorporated into the law.

The project is based on CPAS best practices, namely the opportunities given to social workers to interpret the law with flexibility. The establishment of an observatory should also be promptly undertaken in order to monitor CPAS practices. This observatory should be a space for monitoring the practices implemented, formulating comments and recommendations on this subject.

Another new element is that work is an important factor of inclusion, especially for young people between the ages of 18 and 25. But, despite the various proposed solutions of access to employment, there will always be people who will pass through the mesh of the net. Therefore, a right to employment must be provided, otherwise we risk leading to a universal allowance system that offers no solution.

Employment interventions are complemented by regions and by re-employment measures for non-employment seekers. In Wallonia, it was understood that continuity should be ensured between the various services.

For the first time, additional funds are allocated to CPAS. The law enforcement decrees shall provide for the possibility of allocating these resources to the recruitment of additional personnel. The interviewer is also in favour of an increase of 10% of the minimex but one cannot increase this benefit without increasing others such as unemployment benefits, minimum pensions and disability benefits.

The purpose of the bill is that these persons leave the CPAS, leave the residual regime and enjoy an adequate economic and social status.

Ms. Gilkinet drew attention to the progress made in this project, but a number of concepts should be better defined and realised.

The distribution of competence between CPAS and regional bodies responsible for occupational integration should be clarified.

It was reminded that the goal is to proceed with a 10% increase in the minimex. The possibility of a link to well-being should be transformed into an obligation.

The member also supports the idea of creating an observatory. It should also be evaluated, after one year, the implementation of the bill and the accompanying measures.

Finally, the concept of acceptable and personally adapted work deserves some clarification. by Mr. D'haeseleer believes that it is indisputable that employment, active participation in social life and the related income are the best ways to get people out of their isolation and allow them to lead a life consistent with human dignity. by

Like the State Council, the interviewer asks about the division of powers between the federal and the regions in the enforcement of the law. The latter does not admit that the bill may also apply to all refugees, within the meaning of Article 49 of the law of 15 December 1980 on the access to the territory, residence, establishment and removal of foreigners.

If employment constitutes the best social protection, the person concerned must make an effort. A minimum of control must be provided. The interviewer also asks about the three-month period that the CPAS will have to observe to offer a job. The law does not provide for sanctions in this regard. He also asks about the assistance of a third party to the CPAS, the five-day reflection period, the granting of the minimex to students, the residual increase of 6% for the minimex and the distinctions established between isolated and cohabitants.

by Mr. Decroly points out that it is necessary to reverse the trend, indicating that the number of young people demanding the minimex has tripled in the last ten years. It regrets that no preliminary evaluation has been made before legislation. by

Rather than being an improvement, the bill represents a huge step backwards. The project deprives young people under the age of 25 of their fundamental right to income and forces them to accept a job without too many guarantees. The abandonment of the notion of minimum means of subsistence is a detrimental evolution, insofar as it may have as a consequence that the allocated income is below the minimum. When considering integration through work, consideration should also be given to the type of work and working conditions. The concept of work adapted to the intellectual and physical possibilities of the young is not defined anywhere. by

Increasing contractualization is another issue of concern. It is also possible to ask whether this is a contract or a force-of-force relationship. The guarantees given are not sufficient. The concept of adapted employment is not clearly defined and may lead to abuses.

by Mr. Goutry regrets that the issue of competence distribution hides the fundamental question of how CPAS can best accompany stakeholders in their integration process. It asks whether the CPAS should not fall within the competence of the communities. He emphasizes that his party fully supports the bill.

However, the federal jurisdiction with regard to CPAS is so limited and personalizable that one may wonder whether it is still worth keeping it at the federal level. The present project no longer speaks of rescue but of collaboration between people.

We must prevent solidarity from becoming an object of consumption and the role of social workers is crucial.

A debate could also be opened on the delimitation of the respective competences of the CPAS and the VDAB. CPAS need additional resources and it is necessary that they conclude cooperation agreements with the VDAB in order to prevent conflicts of jurisdiction.

As for students, the speaker asks if they should not apply for a scholarship instead of addressing the CPAS. The increase in the minimex amount should be part of a general adjustment.

For my part, I intervened to relay the concerns of some CPAS presidents of medium-sized cities. I successively developed the following themes: - the right to employment and the integration contracts for students; - the new categories; - the procedure for examining applications; - the state grants.

It seemed obvious to me that the new law could be achieved only through fundamental reorganizations of social work but also administrative procedures and personnel contributions. by

The federal state increases the rights of beneficiaries but also the burden for CPAS and, therefore, for local finances. I have asked for more clarification in this regard. by

In his reply, Mr. Vande Lanotte recalled that reintegration through work should also be a task of social protection. The bill aims to concrete the right of every citizen to be usefully integrated into society, not by means of a single financial intervention but through employment. Other factors contribute to this, such as housing or education.

The manner in which an entity expands its competences in a progressive manner may be interpreted on the condition that it does not compete disproportionately with the competences of the Regions. The Minister is of the opinion that the competence granted to CPAS is not contrary to the distribution of competences when it is exercised on the basis of coordination and collaboration with the regional agencies responsible for placement such as VDAB, Orbem, Forem or even private partners. It should be taken into account that CPAS do not face the same type of audience as investment services.

In response to the comments of Mr. Paque and Decroly, the minister replicates that about 70 studies were consulted to prepare the bill. The increase in the number of minimexed youths is not a fatality. The Minister disputes the statements that the bill strengthens contractualization. On the contrary, the project strengthens the rights of the interested parties and gives them increased chances of finding a job. by

for Mr. Decroly, however, if the objective is to create a right to employment, that right must be added to the right to minimum income or the right to social integration and not replace it.

The Minister disputes that the project introduces a replacement of rights. It acknowledges that the dialogue with the associations fighting poverty has not taken place under optimal conditions. He explains why the project specifically favors young people under 25 years of age. The 4% increase in the minimex is due to the increase in the minimum of other allocations.

It also explains the difference in treatment between an isolated and a cohabitant. by

Several speakers are surprised that the family and transgenerational dimension must be taken into account in the difficulties that young people encounter in their studies. The Minister replies that in the evaluation system that will be set up, special attention will be paid to young people and the policy carried out will be adjusted if necessary.

It also admits that the notion of employment "adapted" means an employment adapted to the situation of the person and in accordance with the labour legislation. The aim is full-time employment. by Mr. Mayeur adds that all work is remunerated by a salary. Volunteering cannot be regarded as work in exchange for which a person is granted a minimum of resources. by

Answering Mr. Decroly, the Minister specifies that in order to promote consistency, all matters relating to the financial aspects of law enforcement will be settled by royal decree.

The Minister intends to submit a single comprehensive draft Royal Decree to the Federal Advisory Commission on Social Assistance and the draft will be forwarded, for information purposes, to the Public Health Commission before its text is published.

In conclusion, please allow me, Mr. Speaker, to refer to my written report for the discussion of the articles as well as for the adoption of the adopted amendments. I would like to conclude by reminding you that the entire draft law was adopted unanimously by the committee.

First of all, I would like to thank Mrs. Burgeon for the comprehensive, clear and accurate report she presented to us today. I would also like to use this to thank the Minister for his participation in the commission and for the answers he has eagerly given to the very many questions that have been asked. by

Now to the draft law itself. by

As I said before, the bill that creates the right to social integration is not revolutionary in itself. Nevertheless, it introduces a major change of principle in the social practice of the CPAS, as it transforms the right to a financial amount into a right to an integration project. by

In fact, for several years already, many CPAS social services worked this way, proposing integration projects. This practice is now widespread, with the right to an integration income becoming residual compared to the right to integration. by

During the discussion in the committee, Mr. Minister, you insisted on the fact that in no way does the bill create new obligations for those who enjoy the right to social integration. I believe it, and this has been demonstrated throughout the discussion in the committee. However, I still have some reservations about the ability that some people may or may not have to assure full responsibility in what is called an integration contract. You have also acknowledged it yourself in the committee, Mr. Minister, since you have told us that some families reproduce dependence on social agents from generation to generation. by

The main form of social inclusion targeted by the bill is employment. The bill does not exclude other forms of social inclusion, but the priority here is given to employment. But in order to be able to access employment, we must have acquired a minimum social stability that, for several generations sometimes, the weakest people of our society no longer have. I therefore believe that it will be necessary to be extremely vigilant with regard to how the new legal provisions will be applied and in particular with regard to the consequences they will have for ⁇ fragile populations. CPASs are competent in evaluating what a suitable job is. In view of ⁇ difficult situations that some people experience, one may wonder whether a job corresponding in all respects to the requirements of labour law will actually be a job suitable for that person. The CPAS have, in this regard, a discretionary and important discretionary power. We do not challenge, a priori, this competence given to the CPAS, but we insist that a comparative evaluation of the practices of the different CPAS be promptly implemented. That is why we support the proposals that were made during the committee debate to entrust a study to evaluate this law to universities and to set up an observatory of CPAS practices. by

Furthermore, I still have some concerns as to how the adequacy between the supply and demand for employment that will transit through the integration contracts will be organized. It is necessary to be realistic: success is far from guaranteed in so far as activation policies carried out in order to increase social participation have their own limits, even if, for example, only by the limited offer of jobs that can be made to the persons concerned. We talked a lot about this in the committee.

The CPAS social services are not specialized in employment or even training. These services belong to communities and regions and the junction between the two will have to be formalized to be effective.

Consultation is also important to ensure that the placement and training services themselves are equipped to organize the placement and training of persons who have been removed from these services for longer or less long periods. This does not relieve the responsibility for the social integration of the CPAS to the investment services, but it should also be avoided that the operation of the investment services constitutes a barrier to the performance of the CPAS’s social integration tasks.

I therefore, on behalf of my group, insist that consultation with communities and regions should be established as soon as possible and that, as part of the evaluation work to be carried out in the coming months, this collaboration with the placement and/or training services also be the subject of special attention. Labour integration is a priority axis of the bill. This issue seems to me to be major.

I also regret that this bill has not been used to increase the federal state’s intervention in the CPAS expenditure related to social integration. It must be acknowledged, Mr. Minister, that the full implementation of the bill will result in the need for more personnel within the social services of the CPAS even though it must be admitted that the project provides for an increased intervention for personnel costs related to these integration files. The CPS asks if this will be enough.

You replied in the committee, Mr. Minister, that you refused, even in the case of budget availability, to linearly increase the intervention of the federal because such an increase would favor the municipalities and the CPAS rather than the integration projects properly speaking. However, it should be remembered that in this case, it will be the municipalities who will have to partially assume the financial consequences of decisions that will have been taken by the federal government and over which these municipalities have no control. When one knows the very difficult financial situation of some municipalities, one can consider as legitimate requests to increase the intervention of the federal like what is done in several other European countries where the support is sometimes 90 or even 100% of this income.

Therefore, Mr. Minister, on behalf of my group, I reintroduced three amendments to Article 32, dealing with the intervention of the federal state in the integration income. by

In paragraph 1, we propose to raise the rate of reimbursement of integration income by the federal state to the CPAS from 50 to 60%.

In paragraph 2, we propose to replace the words “60%” with the words “75%” and to insert the words “or to 1% of the population” between the words “ayants droit” and the words “or who accomplished”. Thus, a privileged reimbursement rate is provided for municipalities based not only on an absolute number of people benefiting from the social integration project, but also on a percentage of the population, which allows not to exclude small municipalities.

In paragraph 3, we propose to replace the words “65%” with the words “80%” and to complete the phrase with the words “or 2% of the population”. This is a request that comes in particular from the Union of Cities and Municipalities through the Federation of CPAS.

In conclusion, Mr. Minister, Dear colleagues, if we can accept the general philosophy of the whole bill, we want to draw attention to the importance of an evaluation of the practices of each CPAS. We also insist that any new measure decided by the federal state does not result in increasing the financial difficulties of the local entities responsible for implementing them.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, colleagues, first of all, we want to thank the reporter for the accurate and expert report. The CD&V has actively and enthusiastically participated in the discussion of the present proposal in the Committee on Public Health. The proposal, which modernizes and replaces the existing minimum subsistence law of 1974, rightly emphasizes the integration of every needy. We can recognize ourselves in the spirit of the design. On the other hand, the text itself showed a number of shortcomings. Some of them have now been corrected. The CD&Vfraction has submitted several amendments to this effect. Several of them were adopted in the committee. The CD&V will approve the draft.

Nevertheless, on behalf of our group, I would like to formulate a number of concerns that we have already put forward in the committee. Thus, we regret that the draft has not gone sufficiently far in the revision of the different categories of entitled persons. The categories are adapted to the changed social context, which was highlighted in the explanation. However, many problems remain unresolved. First, under the new arrangement, living separately remains financially more advantageous than living together. This leads to bizarre conditions and works fraud in hand. The financial incentives to be apparently alone remain therefore equally large and discourage cohabitation and a possible family reunification. A second finding is that child burden is only taken into account for single persons and not for cohabitants. We find this discriminatory. The composition of the family should also be taken into account for cohabitants. Thirdly, the introduction of a new category of single persons with maintenance obligations and the granting to this category of an increased living wage also entails additional discrimination. Only a single person entitled to maintenance is entitled to an increase. A cohabitant with maintenance obligation, on the other hand, does not. What surprises us is the lack of uniform terminology. From a government that claims to strive for more transparency and simplification, it surprises us that its members have a different framework of concepts among themselves. For example, in the draft, the terms cohabiting and single are filled in a different way than in the old-age income guarantee law a few months ago.

Our group has concerns regarding the replacement of subsistence minimum by living wage. We see that the concepts of existence minimum and existence minimum tracer are no longer of this time and that they constitute a too passive fulfillment of the real tasks that the OCMWs take on today. However, we are asking questions about the new term living wage. The term lies smoothly in the mouth and is actually already well embedded. Does this term really reflect what it means? The Minister said that the legislator with the term living wage intends to indicate that the income is indeed a counter-benefit for the commitment of the person concerned to engage in society to the extent possible. This is a strange responsibility. She gives the impression that life alone is sufficient as a commitment to social involvement.

In addition, the living wage itself does not differ from the subsistence minimum. It remains a financial benefit for those who do not have other means of subsistence. What the draft changes, on the other hand, is the replacement of the right to a subsistence minimum by a right to social integration. This right to social integration may consist of employment or a living wage sometimes linked to an integration project.

Employment is indeed a commitment of the person concerned to social involvement. But the person who works no longer receives a living wage. Participation in an integration project is also a form of commitment of the person concerned to engage in society to the extent possible. The living wage received by the person concerned can therefore be considered as a compensation for this commitment.

As today many people receive a subsistence minimum, tomorrow many people will probably receive a subsistence salary without necessity. Where is the difference? Both in the 1974 Act and in the draft, working readiness is a prerequisite for receiving a financial benefit. The minister himself in a response to criticism of the Greens said that, I quote: "... In fact, nothing changes the existing state. Even now, an OCMW benefit provider is already considered to accept an appropriate job offer.” The question that we ask ourselves is, therefore, what additional commitment is required of a person entitled to a living wage that is older than 25 compared to the current subsistence minimum tracer. It therefore seems to us that the new connotation that one wants to give to living wages actually only applies to the -25-year-olds who are indeed asked for a commitment in the form of work experience, training, full-time studies or integration project.

Most people will declare the term living wage as a salary to live on. However, we would like to note that wage is a concept from labour law. Van Dale defines wage as, I quote: "Cash remuneration for the benefit of another work performed; the price of delivered labour force, in particular in relation to the labour of workers and lower officials." The Wage Protection Act of 12 April 1965 understands under wage, I quote: "1, the wage in money to which the employee, in accordance with his employment relationship, is entitled to be charged by the employer. 2, the fees or service fees to which the employee is entitled as a result of his employment or use. 3, the benefits valuable in money to which the employee is entitled, as a result of his employment relationship, at the expense of the employer." As Ruud Hendrickx, language advisor of the VRT, says, I quote: “Living wage is a Belgian neologism for subsistence minimum. It’s not a salary because you don’t have to work for it and it’s hardly enough to live out of it.” Finally, a last consideration about the priority focus on young people under 25 years of age. We can follow the Minister in his reasoning that young people should be given all opportunities for integration, especially since the proportion of young people in the overall target group has increased sharply. Nevertheless, it seems unfair to us to take this preferential treatment for -25-year-olds also financially. In fact, the draft provides that the state subsidy to the OCMW is increased by 25% if the center employs a qualified person who is under 25 years old. The OCMW is therefore interested in employing a younger person rather than someone whose parents are over 25 years old.

We wonder why the OCMWs only receive the increased allowance for the less than twenty-five-year-olds. In the past, the Spring Programme equalized all state employment benefits under Article 60(7). They were drawn up to the subsidy of the highest category. At that time, the government argued that it wanted to eliminate the discrimination between the different categories. Now, however, a new discrimination risks to emerge between the category of eighteen to twenty-five-year-olds or the category of better subsidised and the category of plus-twenty-five-year-olds or the category of less well subsidised.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, to this extent, some considerations from our group in the present draft. Despite the remaining gaps, despite unresolved problems and despite certain discriminations that remain, we will approve the bill on living wages. It is both a confirmation of the active role that the OCMWs now assume, as well as an incentive to offer the disadvantaged in our society not only a safety net but also a springboard. We believe that in this case an imperfect law is better than no or obsolete law. We are therefore very confident that the imperfections will be gradually corrected and corrected.

Mr. Van De Walle, can I congratulate you on your maidenspeech? I wish you a lot of success in the room.

Congratulations to M. Vande Walle pour son maiden speech Mrs Avontroodt has promised to speak briefly and I always believe the ladies.

Mrs Avontroodt, first you have the word and then Mr Mayeur.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you and Mr. Mayeur.

Mijnheer de voorzitter, u hebt altijd gezegd: "In politics you must have faith and the liver." In no has you alweer your faith beleden.

There are times when the liver is more important than faith.

In any case, it is nice that you can confess your faith here.

Mr. Minister, Mr. President, colleagues, for us, the bill is effectively a full step in the realization of the active welfare state. This really enlarges the task of the OCMWs; above all, it is also cut on the scale of society. What is it ultimately about? In fact, it is done to participate in that society, also of those who are the most vulnerable and who are the weakest in society. The emergency program for a more solidary society for 18- to 25-year-olds will be expanded. I would like to point out here again that the group of young people who appeal to it has tripled in ten years. The government has understood this signal, and I would like to congratulate the Minister for that. The project seeks to promote the social integration of these young people by offering them a first work experience without coercion, without such coercion, but above all by guiding and following them.

I can testify from practice. Avant la lettre we have strived in my municipality to combine the aspect employment and the aspect guidance by the OCMW in the local work shop, by accommodating those functions in one house, the so-called Plot.

I think this will destigmatize and promote it somehow and I think this is a current fulfillment of a task of the OCMW. What is fundamental for social inclusion is not only financial independence, but above all the incentive given to self-respect for young people. I think this draft can be a serious incentive for that, especially since it is not a dead letter because you also extract resources to support and defend the workload that will undoubtedly come with it. Of course, we can only support the individual approach that is made possible thanks to this design, especially since this is happening at a level that is very close to the citizens. It can happen in its own biotope, in its own environment. The fact that the increase in living wages becomes an indexed income will provide the possibility to effectively fill that human-worthy existence. This fits into the government’s intention to defend the wealth stagnation, especially since the possibility is created to link the living wage to the wealth index.

Mr. Speaker, I promised to be very brief, so I will only list that I support that the government that completes minimum personnel standards for the OCMWs, that it pays attention to the integration of foreigners, registered in the population register, and that yet a very modern concept is completed in 2002, in particular the strengthening of user rights, such as the right to information, registration, handle the request to be heard, to know decisions motivated and to get a time limit for appeal.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, I end this draft by giving a sustainability label. Why do I call this a sustainable design? One often speaks of comfort when one means helping people who are hurt. This design actually focuses on the vulnerability of everyone. In a relationship, it is called “tenderness” when one pays attention to the vulnerability of the weakest. These are the pillars and foundations for sustainable relationships. For me, this is the label under which I want to place this design. It is a design that adds the act to the word, and therefore we can naturally approve this design from our group.

Why should the law of 1974 on the minimex be modernized? Before answering this question, I think it is worth recalling what the Minimex Act of 1974 provides for and what it does not allow. The law establishes a right to the minimex for any major Belgian who does not have sufficient resources and who is unable to obtain them either by his personal efforts or by other means. This was the definition of 1974. The law imposed an inquiry into the resources of the minimex applicant and provided that the obligation for the applicant to prove that he was willing to be put to work appeared in the social worker’s social report. So, when some claimed that the law we wanted to modernize was actually a law that granted a virtually unconditional right to social assistance, obviously no, that right was not a virtually unconditional right to social assistance since it provided for obligations.

What was not acceptable for us in the 1974 Act and what is being amended today? This is in particular and in the first place the fact that there was no equality between Belgians and foreigners for the grant and for the benefit of the minimex. Foreigners registered in the Population Register or the Register of Foreigners were not entitled. They are entitled to an equivalent social aid but it must be remembered that this is left to the assessment of the CPAS and therefore is not an individual right in the same way as the minimex.

The Minister’s draft and the draft we will adopt finally meet, from this point of view, a bill I had filed on behalf of the PS and which aimed to establish more equality between Belgians and foreigners by allowing access to the minimex for foreigners registered in the population register of their municipality. This is for us a considerable advance, which is not only of a symbolic order, although, in this field, symbols also have their importance.

Finally, in order to benefit from the minimex, the person who requests it must demonstrate that he is willing to work. I will return to this notion of work because I would like to talk about it longer. This is one of the topics that has caused the most controversy in the framework of this bill.

Here, I would like to stigmatize the fact that since 1974, no student was immediately entitled, in reality, to the minimex. We are, therefore, still in an absurd situation today to have to demand that a young person aged 18 or more, who continues to study, if the law is scrupulously observed, that he stops his studies and that he is willing to work. Evidently, a jurisprudence had appeared on the issue and provided that students could nevertheless benefit from the minimex. But this under four conditions, cumulative says the Brussels Court of Appeal.

The student must have claimed the rights that are his with his parents, therefore with his debtors of alimony.

The student had to apply for the benefit of a scholarship.

It was necessary for the student to work outside of school hours, weekends, holidays, etc.

The student had to prove that he was successful in his studies.

These four conditions, which were inscribed in the jurisprudence of the Brussels Court of Appeal and which applied fairly to many students, fall now since the CPAS will be able, on its own initiative and immediately or at the young person’s request, to propose that the young person pursue or even begin full-time, day-to-day studies, without necessarily being linked to this obligations such as those of being willing to work. It is also a bill that we had submitted on behalf of the PS and which is met, at least in part, through this bill. I say in part because our proposal provided other provisions than this bill on accompanying and guiding by a CPAS. However, the important thing for the student is that from now on this right is fully recognized in the law, and not only through a fairly binding jurisprudence. by

Finally, the bill provides an element of response to the problem of unpaid maintenance pensions and introduces the notion of co-parenthood, thus responding to the evolution of families, which is also an important claim in our opinion.

In this regard, I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, whether it would not be possible to remove from this discussion the consideration of the bill I submitted with Mrs. Burgeon.

Proposal 1157/1 is intended to amend Article 1412 of the Judicial Code in order to establish an insurmountable minimum living amount for all remuneration and social benefits.

We have not talked about it and as a debate on maintenance claims is planned, I would like this proposal to be considered at the same time.

There is no objection from the government or the House. (No) It will be so and the discussion of Bill No. 1157/1 will therefore take place later.

What are the changes made by this bill?

With this bill, we are part of an evolution that has seen social intervention in our country move from assistance to aid and then from aid to social integration. This evolution fundamentally transforms social assistance. It results, to believe the words held by the French sociologist Robert Castel in his book "The New Social Question", from a consciousness of the existence of a new profile of poor people to whom one can no longer attribute responsibility for their unhappy condition. Therefore, one cannot blame them for a non-working situation they have not chosen, nor try to treat them or rehabilitate them by placing them in a classical category of social assistance. We need to help them get back to a “normal” place in society. The concept of insertion consists, in fact, in constructing a project that engages a double responsibility (that of the allocator and that of the community) and which must result in a re-enrollment of the beneficiary in the common regime. Clearly, it is now considered — and this is the evolution recorded through social integration — that the person is not alone responsible for his situation, that the community has a share of responsibility and that his role is to propose that person to work with him to transform his social condition to improve it. by

The transformation of this social condition is done by labour. It must be remembered that the link between work and social protection has helped to overcome poverty and mass vulnerability by ensuring to every working citizen and his family a security of existence and hope in the future unparalleled on the scale of the world and in the history of mankind. by

It is a victory for the socialists that we are, to have been able to establish this regime of social democracy in Europe for more than fifty years. It is the social security of which we are well-trained and well-behaved children. by

Breaking with this model and imagining that work will disappear and that it is no longer a value of emancipation of individuals is therefore a perspective not only truncated but also dangerous since it challenges this extraordinary balance of assurance and solidarity that we have reached.

If the minimex, social assistance or what will now be called the social integration income lose their residual and transitory character outside the common regime, i.e. employment, salary function or social security, we create categories of persons under permanent infusion, registered in an intermediate social regime, which represents a new social status and poses an unprecedented problem to our social protection system.

One can obviously join the idea that what is founded on the dignity of an individual is not exclusively or not necessarily wage employment or work.

Here too, I would like to resume a part of Robert Castel’s analysis of a policy of social inclusion that would be cut off from a project of professional inclusion. He says that at that moment, one imagines a society where the individual can emancipate himself by other aspects including culture and leisure. He adds that it is paradoxical that such overwhelming responsibility is delegated to the most fragile and disadvantaged groups such as RMI allocators, in the present case minimexes or beneficiaries of social integration income. This category should prove, because it has no choice, that social inclusion is worth professional inclusion and that one can therefore realize itself in the existence without work. In this case, it is not about people who would have chosen to realize themselves in the existence without work, but rather of people to whom it would be said: “From now on, you will no longer work. You are given a permanent allowance and you will realize yourself in existence otherwise.” There is here an extraordinary drift that is contrary to the idea that it is the freedom of individuals that must eventually guide them in that choice and not the coercion. For the rest, it is obviously through work that the emancipation of workers, of people who must live from their labor force, can be realized.

Parliament will therefore adopt the bill tomorrow, which will enter into force on 1 October 2002. I would like to return to the points that had been the subject of controversy on the occasion of the consideration of this bill outside and inside the parliament. These are, in particular, articles concerning access to employment for young people aged 18 to 25 who are engaged in CPAS. Some saw the return of forced labour; others — and I am one of those — saw the possibility finally offered to these young people to access a job that they would not otherwise obtain.

We need to return to this topic and try to answer some arguments heard on too many occasions. Thus, for some who have expressed themselves against the government’s project, it would not be necessary to provide for the possibility of employment for minimexes because their social situation requires that they be granted an income (the minimex allowance) as a right almost unconditionally. "Out of the way, if there was work for them, it would be known and given that we are not in a full-employment society, how will we do to provide them with a job?"If one adopts this fatalist viewpoint, it is that one cannot distinguish between suffering and injustice to repeat the expressions of Christophe Dejour in "Suffrance in France, the banalization of social injustice". "No one doubts," he says, "that those who have lost their jobs, those who fail to find them (primary unemployed) or find them (long-term unemployed) and who are undergoing the process of progressive de-socialization, suffer. On the other hand, not everyone today shares the view that victims of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion would also be victims of injustice. The suffering of others generally triggers compassion and a form of resignation in the face of the employment crisis, seen as a fatality, an economic phenomenon over which one would ultimately have no control. On the other hand, if one considers that exclusion, poverty and unemployment are as many injustices experienced by those who suffer from them, then one can build, in the face of these situations, political projects, collective actions, laws and social measures when one governs to change things and not watch the poor suffer as a destiny the misfortune that falls upon them.”

The 1974 law required the person applying for the minimex to provide proof that they were willing to work. Some CPAS, fortunately few, have required aid applicants to present attestations of potential employers before whom they had presented themselves but without success. These practices denounced as it should be show sufficiently that the right to the minimex was not an unconditional right as some have dreamed of it or believed it to be read in treaties of jurisprudence. by

On the ground, this was not the case and they know it because they are the same ones who denounced the abuses mentioned above.

The new law, on the other hand, requires the CPAS, therefore the public institution, to offer within three months of the application, a job proposal to a young person aged 18 to 25 years. It is the whole logic of public intervention that transforms from a right to social assistance into a right to social integration. And this is not just a semantic revolution, it is a real change. This is a real change because, especially between 1999 and 2001, our country as well as the whole of Europe experienced a period of economic splendor and growth that allowed us to once again express our hopes in a society of full employment.

However, it must be clear: if minimexes have been able to benefit directly from this economic improvement, it is marginally. It is largely thanks to voluntary policies supporting the socio-professional integration of minimexes by the CPAS that people have been able to access employment, including during this period. Without the "Spring" program, without other measures, these people would never have found a job, despite the economic embellishment we had known. This means, therefore, that only a policy specifically focused on this audience produces proven results.

It was also invoked the fact that the persons in charge of the CPAS were not able to work and that was often one of the reasons for their dependence on a CPAS. This inability to work is both a lack of training and insufficient schooling, or even a lack of a working model, the parents being in a situation of permanent unemployment. The example would not exist at home and there would therefore be nothing to do. This is, of course, transforming an analysis of certain situations of poverty, an attempt to understand sociologically the phenomena of exclusion into a determinist sentence against those persons, condemned to permanent misery, which is unacceptable to me.

Yes, there are whole families who emerge from the CPAS and who see no other future prospect to get out of it than the allowance granted to them by the institution, and this "ad vitam".

But we also know that if special efforts are made, for example towards the youth of these families, it is possible to break this reproducible chain of exclusion. Do not abandon anyone, do not abandon any possibility, try to offer even what seems inaccessible: training, employment, autonomy, this is what the social and solidary society that we build owes to each citizen and especially to the weakest. Not to give up, not to resign in the face of misery and poverty, including that which is reproduced from father to son, is in part the role that we want to assign to the CPAS, to the public power, through this law.

Some then argued that the jobs offered by the CPAS are and will surely be underemployment, thus creating new forms of workers’ sub-states. Of course, abuses have been denounced here again, and that rightly. But already today, CPAS have set up qualified social teams that are there to also ensure that the jobs offered to minimexes correspond to their capabilities and that they are framed, and above all that they benefit from a real work contract and a real salary. by

The bill also expressly stipulates that the employment offered to young people by the CPAS will be entirely governed by labour law: right to guaranteed average monthly minimum income, protection against dismissal, security and hygiene guarantee, etc.

The responsibility of the public authority is to offer guarantees and working conditions to all such workers, including those who benefit from a contract Article 60, § 7.

Others, then abundant in the sense of an intervention of the company to provide employment to the persons in charge of the CPAS, however, consider that this is not the role of the CPAS, but rather that of the existing services for the placement of the unemployed, in this case the ORBEM, the FOREM or the VDAB. In my opinion, they are sinning by naivety, ignoring the real difficulties faced by those in charge of the CPAS and which require social accompaniment in parallel with employment.

Too often, we see in our social-professional insertion services people who, after the euphoria that proves to them by starting in a job and a first salary, regain self-confidence, self-esteem finally, but which sometimes gives the place to doubt, or even to failure.

The CPAS Social Workers are there to support these people. But the CPAS is also there to continue the indispensable assistance so that the person can get out of a difficult social situation that can not always be solved solely by employment and the salary that accompanies it. These roles are not provided by ORBEM, FOREM or VDAB. These are simply not their tasks. by

The struggle that still remains to be fought lies, in my opinion, in the conditions of this integration. The community must meet the imperative of granting the means to honour the contract. This is the main challenge we have to face today. The CPAS must be strengthened so that they provide this possibility of integration.

How is the contract between the young and the CPAS implemented? What is the quality of the job proposed? After the work, what becomes the old minimex? What types of integration are developed? What certification is given to the qualification that the young person has obtained in his work as provided for in Article 60? This is where the issue of integration arises. It is not just an occupation, not a sub-statut, but a real status. This is the guaranteed minimum income. I will here again refer to the French sociologist Robert Castel, who says that there is a debate around the SMIC, the equivalent of the guaranteed minimum income. Some say that the smile can be removed. He declares that “the status of the SMICAR” — the person who receives the guaranteed minimum income — “is ⁇ not envious. But the SMIC is the passport that opens access to the wage society. It makes it possible to understand concretely the difference between simply occupying a job and being an employee. The employee regime includes, along with monetary remuneration, collective regulations, procedures, conventions and protections that have a legal status. by

That is the difference. That is why even the paid work at the guaranteed minimum income is a work that has a fundamental importance in the general social protection system that we have created and that we want to continue to defend.

Finally, as regards the whole bill, it remains to be envisaged to increase the amount of the minimex. We decided to increase it by 4% at the beginning of the year. It is very good. But studies have shown that minimex was insufficient to live. Several of them showed that it was necessary to increase it at least by 10% so that it corresponds to the general increases granted to all other allocators, even especially workers in that country.

The PS had already requested this increase last year, when it had submitted its twenty-five proposals in order to modernize the minimex. We were and are still in favor of a 10% increase. It is useless to increase the amount of minimex — in the future called integration income — if the other social benefits — not only the lowest — and the low wages are not also revalued. One cannot continue to support a regime made of traps and contradictions that sometimes incites to want to continue to be taken care of by a CPAS or a social service, rather than trying to live from his work. by

The Roundtable on Social Security set the objectives to be achieved with regard to all social benefits, in particular their link to well-being. This is also our claim. There is an urgent need to revaluate the minimex significantly. I hope we have reached the 10% increase by the end of the legislature.

Finally, it was necessary to modernize the 1974 law on the minimex. It was especially necessary to do so by granting new rights to the poor, rights that should enable them to pursue social equality with other workers, whether or not they participate in social security. The authors of the law were inspired by the good practices of the CPAS. Opponents of the law have relied on the bad practices of some CPAS. This means, therefore, that the law will not change everything and that it will be necessary to remain vigilant and intervene if the rights of persons in charge of the CPAS are not respected.

In this regard, I would like to remind you of my proposal for the establishment of an observatory of CPAS practices.

But many are CPASs who lead new policies offering their audience responses tailored to the often complex situations social workers face with the people they help. We have to trust these social workers. It is necessary to trust the social and professional integration services of the CPAS. by

With the new law, it should be welcomed the important social advancement that constitutes the right for young people to obtain a genuine aid for social integration through work, training or studies and the fact that this right is guaranteed to them by the public authorities, i.e. the collective, society.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, I would like to say first of all that the active welfare state is no longer of this time in order that the Flemish Bloc can find itself perfectly in the position that it is in the framework of centralizing some benefit on itself, as that was the case in the law of 1974. The right to a subsistence minimum has been replaced by a right to social integration, where the benefit becomes a temporary means and no longer a goal in itself. Employment — the active participation in society — and the resulting income are indeed the most appropriate instruments for bringing people out of their isolation and allowing them to live a life of dignity in which they feel useful and valued and can regain their place in society. Their

The question is, of course, how this will be implemented in practice. In this context, I would like to summarize a few fundamental comments briefly. Their

First, there remain a number of questions concerning the competence of the federal government for the implementation of this draft law, of which also the State Council says that some are not to be incorporated into the current federal powers. Therefore, the line of separation between the federal powers and the powers of the states is very thin here. In fact, assistance to persons is provided in the field of social welfare, which is within the competence of the communities, with the exception of a few exceptions, such as the establishment of the minimum amount, the conditions of granting and the financing of the legally guaranteed income. This is now used as a capstop to hang onto the bill. Their

The State Council considers that there is indeed a problem with regard to the competence in the field of the provisions of the draft, which provide for a right to social integration and employment under an employment contract. This employment assignment of the OCMW affects the competences of the regions, since the employment agency is a regional competence. It is obvious that the Flemish Bloc is advocating a definitive end to these issues of competence by transferring the full competence in this matter to the provinces. They can then put their own emphasis in the policy. Their

I come to the scope of this law. You will not be surprised that we cannot agree that all refugees — within the meaning of Article 49 of the Act of 15 December 1980 on the entry into the territory, residence, establishment and removal of foreigners — have access to the systems because this is based on the Geneva Convention, which, in our opinion, is far too extensive.

The draft law correctly uses the premise that employment is actually the best social protection. To succeed in this goal, customization or individualized guidance is necessary. The endeavor and commitment to ⁇ this ultimate goal should in no way depend solely on the OCMW. It is our conviction that at least the same amount of effort must be made by the stakeholders themselves and that also a minimum of control on working readiness should be possible to see if the working readiness and commitment is also real. The fact that employer translation certificates can no longer be requested, in my opinion, contradicts the mutual commitment. Their

It sets a condition for obtaining the right to social integration, but one of the control mechanisms is removed. Their

The quality of a government depends on how it deals with the socially weak. It is our duty to give people who have fallen through the mazes of the net and have fallen into trouble, whether or not by their own fault, a second chance to regain a place in our society. The living wage is for these people the ultimate safety net, which can only exist through universal solidarity. Therefore, it does not seem unfair to us that something must be opposed to this. There must be a concrete commitment from the stakeholders to seize this opportunity. In this context, the right to social integration, as proposed here, gives the impression that through this bill the commitment comes only from one side.

You also know that it is tempting to settle into aid schemes and that many are satisfied with their income. Some even see it as their ultimate goal. No one can deny that. These people need to be pressured. They must be placed before the choice: either they seize the opportunity offered to them and actively contribute to society through their employment, or they ignore that opportunity, but then the clear message must be that therefore the engagement of the government stops. That message sounds too little in this bill.

I refer, for example, to the possibility of being assisted by a third party in negotiations with the OCMW. We believe that a specific and individualized guidance is only likely to succeed if there is a good relationship of trust between the applicant and the escort. Third-party intervention can affect that relationship and have a negative effect on the results.

The meaning of the five-day period of reflection before concluding employment contracts or a contract for social integration is also, in my opinion, incompatible with the pursuit of employment and creates a number of additional barriers. It is, in my opinion, a too unilateral upgrade of the position of the living wages in relation to the position of the social worker and smells like bullying.

Furthermore, I would like to point out some uncertainties that in practice will often give rise to debate, such as the fulfillment of the notion of the right to social integration through employment adapted to the personal situation and capabilities. This will undoubtedly result in different interpretations between the OCMWs and may also be interpreted differently in the different parts of the country.

Positive is then again the activation of the benefit which should encourage employers to hire survivors through an intervention in the wage cost in which the financial intervention will be paid directly to the employee so that the recruited persons will receive a total compensation from the employer. We hope that this new and logical arrangement will be able to apply to existing flow programs. Consultation with the subregions is therefore urgent. Also the derogations from the provisions of the law on employment contracts relating to the observance of the notice periods when another employment contract is possible is a step forward in the context of professional recruitment.

As regards the amount of the living wage, everyone acknowledges that the amount of the amounts — by the way, not only from the social assistance schemes, but also as a result of rights accumulated through contributions to social security — is attributable to a large collection operation.

As of January 1, 2002, there was already an increase in living wages of 4%. The minister says that the new 6% increase is a priority of this government, to the extent that the financial condition of the Treasury allows it. Although this does not fall within the competence of the Minister, since he is not competent for the amounts of benefits, social security and unemployment benefits, I would still say that it is not possible that the revision of the amounts does not fit in a general adjustment of the overall package of benefits in social security. This leads to situations in which cohabitants who receive unemployment benefits receive less than those with the same family status and who are livelihoods. Since the increase of the living wage in January, a cohabiting living wager receives 15 euros per month more than a cohabiting unemployed in his third period of unemployment. This puts the world on its heads and is not responsible for people who have built up rights within social security. The insurance principle is thus put on the slope.

The discussion on the increase of other social benefits and the prosperity resistance of these benefits will be referred to the roundtable conference. Nevertheless, I think that one cannot wait for the outcome and the results of this conference to restore this gap for this category of unemployed.

As for the categories themselves, we remain with a number of questions. Why is there no distinction between cohabitants with child burden and cohabitants without child burden, while the distinction for single persons does not exist? Where is the logic when one sees that a cohabiting couple with child burden will receive the same amount as a single parent with child burden? There are still many examples. Also in the scheme that is being developed for single persons who pay maintenance benefits, we advocate for a differentiated according to the amount of the maintenance benefit.

I think this is not a healthy situation, even though this scheme also exists in the unemployment insurance. I think this scheme will open the gates of abuse and that in this way the most creative people will make money out of this system.

Finally, the Flemish Bloc always advocates for the combination between, on the one hand, a better protection of the socially weaker, including higher benefits, and also a good regulatory annex control to allocate the limited resources available to those who are entitled to it, to those who really need it.

Regarding the financing of the OCMWs for the tasks assigned to them, this bill is already an improvement compared to the previous one. In my view, the question of the OCMWs is correct when they argue that better and broader services, measurement and individualized projects are labor-intensive, where resources must be opposed. The bill will be a positive step in this regard. Their

This is the criticism of the Flemish Bloc on this bill. Therefore, we will be reminded on this basis.

Before I begin my speech, I would like to do the same thing as Mr. President. Mayeur and request to disjoin the proposal of law 1198/1 for the same reasons that he mentioned and to be able to attach it to further discussions in the future.

I need to consult the Assembly. In principle, one cannot disjoin; otherwise the proposals we decide become objectless. by

The request of Mr. Mayeur referred to Proposal No. 1157 and yours to Proposal No. 1198. by

Not for observation? There is no objection? ( no )

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, your draft law on social inclusion is submitted to us today in plenary session. You have been waiting for this event for a long time. This project has mobilized enormous energy, both on your part and on the part of parliamentarians or even field actors. by

You will ⁇ remember that in the very first version of this project, we, as environmentalists, were extremely reserved. I opened up on this as a committee when reviewing the budget and when we now arrive at the end of a process like this, it is always interesting to look in the mirror to visualize the journey taken. This is what I did in the preparation of my speech today and I am pleased to see that most of our requests have been met and that my group is therefore prepared to make a positive vote on the bill that is delivered to us today.

What were our shield lifts and those of other associations on? I will describe the most important ones. At the start of the project, there was a lack of consultation with the partner associations of the Poverty Forum essentially. This absence could, in part, be compensated thanks to the report requested by the government to the Centre for Equality of Opportunities, in order to prepare the second reading of the pre-draft law.

You acknowledged it, during the work in commission, Mr. Minister, this negotiation did not take place in an ideal manner. We have lessons to learn from the work we have done, processes used that we can, very clearly, improve in the future.

Indeed, when you opted for the dialogue, we agreed to the main conclusions of the report on poverty which advocate the indispensable involvement of the relevant groups in the design, implementation and evaluation of the policies concerning it.

My group was naturally delighted to see the dialogue come into being, although at some times we regretted that it wasn’t more in-depth. We are delighted to see today that you have decided to consult the associations to make them participate in the implementation of the device, in particular with regard to user information.

There is another point, ladies and gentlemen, on which the environmentalists were ⁇ attentive at the start of the project: the conception of social integration and its modalities; it was the conception that was envisaged in the first bill, insofar as the focus was exclusively on working, the other modalities of integration being subsidiary. We also regretted, in the very first project, the strengthening of the condition for obtaining the minimex.

The right to integration and the corresponding obligation in the head of the CPAS are now recognized in the project. For Ecolo, the right to a income that allows to live in dignity is a primary principle. What the bill calls "the right to integration" cannot result in additional conditions compared to the 1974 Act for granting or ⁇ ining the right to minimum income. The right to integration is a complementary right to the right to income, without which no integration in dignity is possible. The text also stated: “Everyone who does not have sufficient resources, who cannot claim or be able to obtain them has the right to a minimum income. This right is accompanied by a complementary right of social inclusion through an individualized project of social inclusion aimed at social inclusion through access to appropriate employment, training or social activity." But in-depth discussion has led to an agreement that meets the essence of our concerns: the definition of Article 2: “Everyone has the right to social inclusion. This right may, under the conditions laid down in this Act, take the form of employment and/or integration income, accompanied or not accompanied by an individualized project of social integration. This definition satisfies us because it clearly affirms the right to income as one of the essential modalities of integration, on an equal footing with employment. The right to integration is the employment or income, accompanied or not by a social integration project. by

We believe that the social integration of a person implies a plurality of choices and modalities of accompanying leading to the formulation of an individualized project freely consented. Education or training, engagement (in social activities, for example) and access to a quality employment, i.e. in accordance with the work we have established for the European level, so that all modalities of integration are recognized equally in the bill. by

Your bill meets our concern. We also wanted to see equal funding for the different types of intervention of the CPAS in the area of integration right. You did not follow us on our request, Mr. Minister, but you accepted two things on which I draw the attention of the assembly. On the one hand, the arrests organising the premium of 250 per file for the CPAS will be deliberated in the Council of Ministers and through them, appropriate incentives will be put in place. On the other hand, you also agreed to examine the consequences of Article 34, which encourages CPAS to execute integration contracts, which will be examined during the evaluations provided for by the project accompanying measures. The aim is to avoid the perverse effects associated with a financial engineering of CPAS. The objective is in fact that the applicant’s rights are respected and that they do not induce the CPAS to offer an integration contract to the applicant that is not in accordance with his interests. by

You know, however, that we do not agree with Mr. President. Major on the role of the CPAS in training and employment. We believe that better than the CPAS, the FOREM, ORBEM, Brussels-Formation, etc., are indicated to ensure the reception, guidance and accompaniment of people towards employment. You have noted, Mr. Mayeur and Mr. Minister, that I have not spoken of social accompaniment. Social support is of course the essential function of the CPAS. by

You will tell me that the institutions of today do not take care of those audiences, that it is far too difficult for them, that they are not equipped to do so, etc. by

It is true that, aided by liberalization, these institutions are increasingly inclined to send back to other accompanying persons deemed less interesting for the job market. As an ecologist, this is unacceptable. These are public services and public services must offer the same service to people, regardless of their difficulties, regardless of their level or social status.

We therefore wished that a consultation would be undertaken between the parties concerned by this aspect of the bill, involving in particular the regional ministers responsible for social assistance, employment, training and insertion.

Mr. Minister, you have committed to carrying out these discussions. You also committed to creating a “Task Force”, a term commonly accepted today. This is a follow-up group that will be able to meet regularly, in particular to react quickly if problems should arise in the implementation of the bill.

Another problem we feared at the beginning of the review of the bill was to create an increase in the imbalance between users and the CPAS. Now, I feel quite satisfied with this. I think we are in front of a project that strengthens the rights of users. Already in the preliminary draft law certain rights were strengthened, in particular on issues related to the right to information. In the discussion we had before, we wanted to go further and we were heard on several points.

We wanted the contractual balance between the parties to be as complete as possible, for example that the burden of proof regarding the willingness to integrate belongs to the CPAS and we have obtained it. We also wanted the applicant to have a period of reflection before accepting an integration contract or employment. This was accepted. We also requested the accompaniment by a third party, person or association, in front of the social worker throughout the process. This was also accepted. I am very pleased to hear Ms. Avontroodt say that this is actually a novel in the law. These are completely revolutionary new measures.

Unfortunately, unfortunately for the environmentalists, we had also requested that the suspensive character of certain appeals could be studied. We did not obtain it.

On the other hand, it was agreed that a royal decree would determine the minimum conditions and modalities to which an integration contract must meet, which will be deliberated in a council of ministers. This work should allow us to further bring our positions closer.

On other points that strengthen the rights of users, I would like to further emphasize the following. You include in your bill the right to an employment adapted to the personal situation and capabilities of the person and respecting the collective labour agreements, with a guarantee of immunization of part of the income in case of part-time work. These clarifications are important. Indeed, at the beginning, we also feared that labour law would be compromised by the obsession of activation. The discussion we held and the clarifications you gave us in the committee reassured us on this point.

It was also discussed the possibility for the minimum student to retain their integration income in case of studies abroad, for example in the framework of an Erasmus project. This is a possibility since it may be that these studies abroad are already supported by a scholarship, in which case the student would obviously not need an integration income.

We also obtained for SDFs the possibility of receiving a second facility premium — this is important — and the commitment to carry out a substantial work on the reference address allowing them to have effective access to integration income.

You have also pledged, Mr. Minister, to settle before the parliamentary holidays the painful issue of the competence conflict between CPAS, which regularly prevents a rightful person from having effective and prompt access to integration income. You know, I am very attentive to the work we do. I will therefore remain very vigilant on the implementation of these two points.

Let us finally come to the adaptation of laws to social developments. Many of them are included in the bill. This includes the transformation of the minimex households into minimex cohabitants, the better care of children in charge in the event of alternating custody or payment of alimony pensions. You know that on these points, as ecologists, we would have wanted to go further because we advocate the individualization of rights but we would also have wanted to move much faster on the food claims fund so that it is implemented. But we know that these proposals are following their course well and we hope that they can be implemented very soon, here, at parliamentary level.

The last point is the increase in integration income. You know our bills and the proposal that I asked to be disjoined from today’s discussion, by which we demand a revaluation of the social minimum, thus a 10% increase for the minimex. 4% are acquired as of January 2002 and there is an agreement with the budget being planned. It is very good. Nevertheless, we, as environmentalists, believe that under 10% we cannot estimate that we have sufficiently revalued the integration income. We therefore demand that everything be done so that this revaluation can be done as soon as possible and for example that an additional 2% can be paid to the beneficiaries in June or September 2002. Therefore, it is necessary to act quickly. I think this is absolutely necessary. As for the links of this proposal with the other social minima, we recognize this effective link and we naturally demand the revaluation of the other social minima as well as, in an indispensable way, the revaluation of the wage minimum.

We also believe that the principle of linking the so-called minimum income to well-being should be acquired through a structural mechanism and we believe that all this should be implemented in a multiannual programming. This is what we would like to be committed together in this Parliament. I regret, for my part, that the proposal I made during the discussions in the committee, namely that Parliament should take over this issue independently of the work in the round tables, has not received much echo.

In conclusion, Ecolo and Agalev will vote on this bill. We believe that the guarantees you have placed in your project help to avoid the deviations we feared initially. We obviously remain on a number of regrets, in particular on the fact that the regularized will not be able to directly benefit from the prospects open in the bill as the regularized are registered in the register of foreigners. We know that there are budgetary reasons for the CPAS, but we regret it infinitely. Furthermore, I have just said, we will continue to demand that the social minimum be raised to 10% as well as the minimum wages. We will, on our part, begin a number of steps all aside to ⁇ this.

Mr. Speaker, the present draft law on social integration represents for us an important new step in a truly emancipatory policy in the face of the poorest, in order to give them real opportunities for inclusion.

It ensures that the OCMW no longer functions as a mister cash, but as an institution that tries to support the aid seekers as much as possible, intensely and tailored to give him or her for the first time or again all opportunities to maximize their development in our society. Their

The draft has four major merits: first, the installation of a right of social integration for the aid applicant; second, the strengthening of the position of the aid applicant; third, the increase of the amounts of the subsistence minimum and the inclusion of new categories; fourth, the refinancing of the OCMWs. First, the right to social integration. It has been effectively discussed for a long time. It is important for us that young people in the design get extra attention by doing everything possible for their integration or reintegration through work and/or personal integration circuit. This gives them the opportunity to break out of the poverty spiral.

This draft thus generalizes the “best practices” of a number of OCMWs that have been pursuing this path of re-engagement through employment for years, by making maximum use of the previous instruments, such as Article 60, Article 61, the flow programmes, the PWAs, the social workshops and the like, building good cooperation ties with other employment actors in the field, such as VDAB, PWA, interim sector and the like.

The fact that the employment track is paying out is demonstrated by the countless enthusiastic stories of ex-existence minimum tractors who, through work, managed to regain full height and also to flourish again as a person.

Despite these success stories, we should not be blind to the fact that some OCMWs still have an old COO vision. They may be some remaining dinosaurs, where one is limited to issuing money at fixed times and where one continues to use the individual debt model towards the poorest. Their

It is therefore the responsibility of the policy maker, both at the higher policy level and at the local level, to work on this obsolete mentality of, in my opinion, a minority of OCMWs, because it is precisely at this point that the horror of the poverty organizations is situated.

From their practice and their work with the poorest, they are confronted with the fact that we do not effectively find model OCMWs everywhere where help-seekers are viewed as equal partners and where, together with them, in an equal adult relationship, their reintegration is sought.

The poverty organisations, together with the support point "Poverty", are therefore requesting parties for an evaluation of the law after some time, including employment.

Through their practice and through working with the poorest, they are confronted with the fact that we do not find model OCMWs everywhere, where help seekers are considered equal partners and where together with them, in an equal adult relationship, their reintegration is sought. The poverty organisations, together with the Poverty Support Point, are therefore requesting parties for an evaluation of the law after some time, to be able to evaluate, among other things, the employment effects. For example, they should look at what kinds of jobs are concerned, how the flow to the regular labour market is and how it is with the sanctions. During the discussion of the draft, the Minister also committed to progressing to such an evaluation over time as part of the so important dialogue with the poorest.

Also the second point, the strengthening of the position of the help-seeker, is an important point of the design. The right to defence, the right to assistance and the right to be heard shall be strengthened, in accordance with the Charter of the Social Insured. That is a good thing that in practice will require a lot of engagement in the field, including with regard to the information. The applicant should be informed of his or her rights in a clear and understandable manner as possible. Additional training will also be required for the social assistants. During the hearing, we heard their concerns that the right to assistance could compromise the relationship of trust between the applicant and the social worker. In my opinion, it does not have to be so at all. Social workers should not see the right to assistance as a threat, but precisely as a help for that aid applicant who is often less orally. This also requires urgent training. The involvement of social assistants as experience experts is therefore a must. As long as the necessary information and training are provided, the enhanced right of hearing and the right of assistance should be able to strengthen the position of the applicant. This can also be evaluated over time in cooperation with the poverty organisations.

The third point concerns the increase of the amounts of the subsistence minimum and the inclusion of new categories. Of course, we are very pleased with the increase of the subsistence minimum by 4% and with the guarantee of the Minister that there will be rapid work done on the further necessary increase, depending on the concrete proposals that will emerge from the social roundtable discussion. I remember that we come from very far away. When the law was reintroduced in 1974, the amount for single persons was 4 582 francs. Today it would be more than 12,500 francs. The current amount is far from that, but is of course still insufficient.

The inclusion in this subsistence salary law of foreigners registered in the population register was very important for us. We are very pleased that the Minister has registered this idea. The idea was launched in the bill of 17 May 2000 and was submitted by colleague Mayeur and myself.

The increase in the amount of the living wage of single persons who are obliged to pay maintenance for their children is, in our opinion, also a good thing and also meets my bill no. 1332 of 4 July 2001. In this way, in my opinion, the subscriber who is obliged to pay maintenance for the children is effectively emancipated and accountable.

I will come to the fourth and last point, in particular the refinancing of the OCMWs. The Social Welfare Department of the VBSG is of course very happy with this, and rightly. In the past, it has happened too often that additional tasks were transferred to the OCMWs without additional funding.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Colleagues, I think that the present bill is a step forward for the inclusion of the wage-threateners in our society. It is now up to this law to really live on the ground, to bundle and generalize the best practices of the OCMWs, to put information campaigns and training sessions on the roof and to over time make an evaluation of this new law, in close cooperation with the directly involved and their representatives, namely the organisations in which the poorest speak.

The Support Point Poverty, which will soon become fully autonomous, can play a crucial role in this. In this way, the dialogue method, as promoted in the general report on poverty, is therefore implemented to the maximum.

Thank you, Mrs De Meyer. The word is now to the gentlemen Hondermarcq and Decroly and then to the minister.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, dear colleagues, the bill that is submitted to us today aims to develop the right to social integration into a right to a contract of work, training or education resulting in employment. by

The MR group supports the central philosophy of the bill that reinforces these concerns.

( ... )

Dear colleagues, a new plan of the hemisphere has been available to you for at least fifteen days. If you browse it, you will find that banks are reserved for the MR group.

Mr. Speaker, please apologize but I had not yet heard this abbreviation pronounced by a member of this assembly.

The MR Group wishes that no one, and in particular young people between 18 and 25 years of age, be excluded, that each individual, while being assured of a high level of social protection, can put all his capacities in the service of society by reconciling them with an honorable personal quality of life.

Fighting fatalism and assistance, the approach of this project is resolutely positive in the sense that it focuses on the potential of each individual and not only on allocations.

However, the integration income is linked to the evolution of the cost of living. The government has decided to increase the financial allocations by 4% from 1 January 2002, which we welcome. The group of the reformist movement, Mr. Speaker, thus takes note of the Government’s willingness to continue this increase, if the effectively available budgetary margins allow it, without prejudice to the parallel increase of certain minimum allocations.

Furthermore, through the present bill, the CPAS no longer appears as a final fence against poverty, but it becomes, on the contrary, a real milestone towards social integration.

For us, the CPAS must be able to respond individually to each situation in order to advise, frame and guide the young applicant as appropriately as possible, either towards a rewarding and enriching job or towards a training that allows him to obtain real qualifications leading to a job.

Here, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, are the few small remarks I wanted to make on this debate. by

I would like to add, Mr. Speaker, that the Reform Movement Group will support this project being convinced that it responds to the changes that society has experienced, that it introduces equal treatment of users as well as a strengthening of their rights.

For me, to do politics is also to put a number of concrete elements in perspective. It is in relation to this evolution in time that I would like to place part of my comments and my contribution to the debate on this bill.

First of all, I would like to return to an element still as fundamental in my view, our Constitution and, in particular, its Article 23, which it seems useful to recall in preliminary. This article stipulates: “Everyone has the right to lead a life in accordance with human dignity. For this purpose, the law, decree or rule referred to in Article 134 shall guarantee, taking into account the corresponding obligations, the economic, social and cultural rights and shall determine the conditions for their exercise. These rights include, in particular, the right to work and to the free choice of a professional activity within the framework of a general employment policy aiming, inter alia, to ensure a stable and high level of employment as possible, the right to fair working conditions and equitable remuneration.

It is always good to remind this principle as a prelude to such a discussion, as it seems to me as useful to refer to another contribution to a debate on the General Report on Poverty which, on 9 March 1995, saw Senator Germain Dufour, in these same buildings of the Palace of the Nation, explain from his philosophy of life and the witness lived that he could reflect: "We expect the excluded to be an actor of reertion, but on our terms. It is the perverse effect of our regulations that demand from the poorest what we, the rich, are unable to do, to free ourselves from our dependencies.”

I would like to focus the tight criticism I would like to make of this bill on a number of key points. But first I would like to make a comment about the way our assembly works, which seems to me strangely degraded in the light of how we have been able to examine this project. by

It is ultimately marked by two things that are extremely detrimental to its quality. On the one hand, urgency, a phenomenon that tends to generalize. Not long ago, we voted the urgency on the draft reform of particular research techniques. We will therefore pass on to the Hussard an extremely important project on the judicial and police level. This urgency did not allow us to carry out an assessment, which we should have done, in all good logic, before considering a change to the law of 1974. Certainly, some colleagues have spoken of evaluation but a posteriori, later, ⁇ as for the "snelrecht" or as for naturalization whose evaluation is still on the lookout.

The second detrimental consequence of this climate and of this rule of urgency that we impose on ourselves, as caused by a kind of feeling of self-destruction of the quality of our work, is the absence of hearings of the associations representing the first concerned. Here too, a quick revision of the way things went is necessary. by

Mr. Speaker, I have the impression that today we are far from the wind of enthusiasm that blown on this assembly, especially in 1993-94 at the time when the General Report on Poverty was being prepared and resulted in highly interesting contributions. by

What did this report say about the problem of consulting and participating the poor themselves in the development of policies that concern them in the first place? He said, page 392: "If the expectation of the public authorities initiating the report was to hear interested parties from proposals regarding direct policies to combat poverty, the rising interpellation of partners has become: "Can we see and identify together what, in the indirect policies (economic, employment, social security, housing, youth aid, etc.), increases precariousness and poverty and threatens social cohesion and on this basis engage in a dialogue, call for a framework for social negotiation, an integrated process from mutual training in dialogue to the development of proposals, negotiation on these proposals and their evaluation."

Today we are really too far from that! This was also stated in the debate in the parliamentary committee. You said that you did not fully fulfill your contract on this aspect of things. You said you regret it while feeling that you have a part of responsibility for it.

Proposing in the summer period, in the month of July, 3 or 4 days of discussion to these associations-partners, was really mocking the principles of citizen participation indicated in this general report.

The second point is the delegation to the Executive. I counted in this project no less than one in three articles that contain delegations to the Executive, sometimes on extremely important things that affect the prerogatives once exercised by parliament. I also believe that this is detrimental to the quality of our work and to the democratic security of the results we want to ⁇ .

Beyond these aspects concerning the method of work, I have a first criticism of substance: we are getting in terms of minimum income in a register where a pseudo-contract replaces an acquired right. A “right” that must be deserved now replaces a guaranteed right yesterday.

I would like to return again to the statements of two Ecolo parliamentarians of 21 December 1992 and 23 November 1992: MM. Snappe and Dejonckheere. Between the parallels, Mr. Snappe is really not someone that can be called a "burned head." He is an extremely temperate, moderate and lucid man in his way of conceiving parliamentary work. He is now a member of the Court of Arbitration. At the time, as Ecolo Senator about the debate on the emergency program for a solidary society, he said, I quote, “The situation of the minimexes makes that the signing of an insertion contract can be considered to have taken place under coercion, the latter being engendered by the indigence of the beneficiary. However, as a general rule, our legislation provides that any contract concluded under coercion is considered to be null and not void. I agree with the Minister’s opinion on the quality of the tool that constitutes the insertion contract. Nevertheless, (...) I would like to recall that the obligation contained in this contract breaks the dynamic and causes it to lose its positive aspect.” Dejonckheere made suggestions that seemed to me and that always seem quite interesting to me. He indicated, on 23 November 1992 in this tribune as deputy Ecolo, I quote: “First, it takes a voluntary commitment of each of the parties and mutual trust between the different partners; second, balanced commitments of each party according to the possibilities and not a unilateral contract; third, a real interest, a positive sanction for example, to accept the constraints of the contract.” This notion of positive sanction, of inciting instead of negative sanction of the type that, very hard, this bill reinforces and amplifies, would have deserved more attention during the debates that are closing.

Mr. Speaker, I am not here to defend Ecolo interventions more than 10 years ago, but what is the difference? Today, we can see that these contracts were not made under coercion but that they, on the contrary, worked well. The balance sheet is generally positive.

As for the positive incentive, it is in particular financial. When you conclude a “Article 60” contract with someone who benefits from a minimex of 22,000 FB, you allow him to benefit from the minimu guaranteed income, that is, approximately 34.000 FB. The positive incentive is 12,000 Fb per month!

Mr. Mayeur, you call this a positive incentive! I think you are angelic.

I am not an angel. I know it’s annoying for you, but the incentive is to go from 22,000 to 34,000 FB per month to live. I think that is not negligible. You abstain from this, but you obviously live with other incomes. For these people, the difference is important.

I want to put my income on the public square and I invite you to do the same. If you want to personalize the question at that point, I will tell you that my income is definitely lower than yours.

The [...]

I do not understand your intervention in terms of income, especially coming from you who cumulate a job of Chairman of CPAS and a job of Deputy. You are in a bad position to put the debate on this scabrious terrain. by

For me, there are no incentives in what you described, but a system of sanctions. Either you are english, Mr. Mayeur, or you are hypocritical because you know very well that the purpose of this type of employment, falling within Article 60 or 61 – and this is still amplified in this project – is absolutely not to give access to a proper employment, worthy of that name, statutory, baremized, and long-term, for an indefinite period. Its official purpose is purely and simply, after a few months, to bring the beneficiary of this type of contract back to a level sufficient to dispose of unemployment benefits. You talk about employment but acknowledge that this is not the primary goal. The goal is actually unemployment. It is also written in the draft that you will vote tomorrow, Mr. Mayeur.

Seventy percent of people get another job.

What work do you do, Mr. Minister?

According to you, the only job that is acceptable is a statutory, baremized and indefinite employment. This means that in Belgium, about two million workers, who have a regular employment, do not enjoy a proper employment. It should not be exaggerated. According to the provisions of the Labour Law, Article 60 provides jobs with a salary like any other. These workers are protected as well as others. The only thing that must be acknowledged is that this is not an indefinite employment. There are many workers who do not benefit from an indefinite employment. But if the figures show that 70% of these workers then get another job, it must be admitted that these jobs allow workers to return to the job market.

Mr. Minister, I hear well what you say but, in this case, why did you not indicate in all letters in your bill that, in order to benefit from the increased subsidy, the CPAS must have guaranteed that the employment is of the type you just described, namely an employment for an indefinite period? This would have been a valid goal since it would have led to a suitable employment.

I disagree with you.

On the other hand, the return to a mere grant of unemployment benefits does not seem to me to be a real goal.

I did not say that.

This is the goal in your project. In these circumstances, to claim that the aim is to provide a suitable employment, is to show either angelism or hypocrisy. by

As Mr. Mr. said. Dejonckheere, in law, there is never an obligation to conclude. In situations especially difficult on the social level, placing the person before the alternative of accepting what is offered to him or of losing — it is therefore a penalty — the income to which he is entitled, is an attitude that does not translate a right, nor does it meet the modalities that are provided in the register of the common civil law contract. It is to use a force ratio at the expense of the beneficiary since it does not serve its interests.

On a principled level, the right to social inclusion, which is highlighted in this project, should complement and not replace the right to minimum income. I will nuance my words because I want to be sure that they don’t make me say what I haven’t said. Between 1992 and 1993, Mr. Snappe, not Mr. Dejonckheere said that, in social work, the contract itself is an instrument to be thrown to the thorns. by

Personally, I find the contract interesting, but the fundamental problem of your project is that this contract, which can be a useful tool of social work, if it is freely consented, ends up having a much cooler, much more formal, much more rigid appearance. In accordance with a contract in the trust register, of a “relational dynamic” between the institution represented by the social worker and the person assisted. Agree with a contract in the register of a dynamic of life, that is, of a dynamic that may include elements of approximation at certain times, paradoxes, turns back, crises, in short, ups and downs and that allows the individual to negotiate his relationship with the society of which he is part. I agree with this contractual logic. by

But in the present case, we are far from the register of relationship dynamics and life dynamics. You formalize, you concrete, you rigidize and enter the logic of hard, dry, cold and sanctional law. Therefore, Mr. Minister, we are no longer faced with a citizen who is a user of the CPAS, an actor of his future through a dialogue of which he can openly and freely influence the foundations and results in relation to the CPAS institution. We are facing a user clearly under tutel, the antipods of emancipation and participation, of which many speakers have spoken recently. by

What will be the role of CPAS, tomorrow, under this law? They will evolve, in my opinion, towards a function more marked by concerns of control, standardization and sanction. I would like to draw, once again, the attention of all the colleagues on an element of historical perspective, which was brought to us by Mr. Paul Palsterman of the CSC, during the hearings. by

It referred to what happened in the 1970s in the field of unemployment benefits. At that time, the decision had been taken to separate the organization of the unemployment services by separating the function relating to the allocation of unemployment benefits from the functions relating to the placement of job seekers. Why Why ? Because abuses have been ⁇ .

Often, some services offered employment to people not to allow them to actually access that job but, in reality, to better justify people’s refusal of these jobs to exclude them from unemployment. The split was a healthy reflex, a good measure. Today, by attributing this type of function to the CPAS, we are evolving in the exact opposite dynamic.

This measure is accompanied by sanctions. I draw the attention of all those who, during the discussion, wanted to limit the damage and erode the most abrupt, most incisive aspects of the PRLEcolo-PS project regarding minimex. In pages 62 and 69 of Mrs. Burgeon’s report, your minister recalls that: “The State Council noted that there was no right to an individualized project since this project is rather a condition for obtaining the integration income. Therefore, there is well... (Sign of denial of Minister Vande Lanotte). Did you not say that, Mr. President? I see you making a sign of denial. In this case, the report should be corrected.

This phrase relates to a discussion on an amendment that generally specifies that the three elements could not be included, in particular that the individualized contract was linked to the refusal of the allocation. I do not think that the State Council has spoken of condition, nor do I. This is ⁇ one of the terms related to the allowance, while employment is not related to the allowance. This is the reason for the amendment submitted by Ms. Descheemaeker, who wanted to list successively the three elements: jobs, allocations and individualized projects.

And she wanted to list them one after another. We told him not to do so because the individualized contract is a modality, not a condition. Subsidies may be granted when there is no individual project. It cannot be a condition; it is a mode of application. by

As I said, this must be included in the report. We can check if you want to.

It is true. However, this does not remove the difficulties I find.

It is not because people benefit from an allowance without an individualized contract that in cases where this is not possible, the allowance will be refused.

Mr. Decroly, I can ask you to conclude.

Yes, Mr the President. On page 69, always about these sanctions, you indicate – I quote –: “in terms of the applicability of this article, the Minister” – I think it is you – “explains that it is possible to impose sanctions only if the interested party does not respect the project that is intended for him, and not when he does not sign his agreement on the proposal that is made to him. In the latter case, this is not a penalty. The CPAS simply refuses to grant the aid."I hope everyone can appreciate this subtlety! In fact, we are not in the register of the sanction, but in the register of the refusal to grant. I assume that the interested party will assess the subtle distinction presented on page 69 of the report. by

In short, I have the impression that with this kind of logic, and especially with the height of the sanctions that are prescribed — and which are more severe than those that were foreseen in the draft of 1993 — we are heading towards something quite problematic in general. This is another step back from this bill. by

Fourth, I come to the conflict of competence between the institutions that are FOREM, ORBEM, VDAB, on the one hand, and CPAS, on the other. Several people we have heard, such as Mr. Otjacques, who spoke on behalf of the partner associations of the General Report on Poverty, draw our attention to the fact that with this type of displacement, we will witness a recentration of the CPAS on priorities of the type "job-coaching", type of training, at the expense of social support other than that which is directly oriented towards the employment objective. I think of the CPAS missions on issues of housing, health, general psychological support, etc. It’s not me who denounces this kind of drift. by

This project contains a huge risk that by strengthening the dynamics that are already in work, the CPAS will become a professional insertion operator, an investment agency. Again, it is not me who says it. This is the State Council, in point 9.2.3 of its opinion, on page 71 of our project. I will not mention it in extent. by

Another problem lies in the rejection of the concept of proper work. This has been the subject of many discussions before and during parliamentary work. And obviously, your majority has not managed to enter it explicitly and clearly as a reference, in the sense of labour legislation, in your text. All the ingredients are therefore gathered together so that we evolve a little more towards a new form of domesticity, the type of one that had already been inaugurated under the previous legislature — the ALE — and that I had fought with my friends at the time. I think there is a huge problem here. by

Today, the true CPAS, modern and non-fatalist, which previous speakers have called out of their wishes, cannot be considered as being left of its mission towards the user by engaging him with discount in his services or in the private, until his return to unemployment. I fear that here again, we will only change the order in the ranks of the unemployed, the applicants for social assistance or minimex, instead of absorbing it. by

The recourse to the food debtor that is planned and reinforced in your project will have a disintegrating impact much more than an integrator. They lead to family breakdown or reinforce that family breakdown, unless, in a number of cases, they simply discourage applicants from filing an application for integration income or minimex.

It also appears that a number of cohabitation arrangements continue to punish, sometimes more severely, the “crime of solidarity”. It remains, in terms of your disadvantaged project to cohabit to reduce the rental charges or to have a better housing than a simple garni or furnished. It remains dissuasive to organize a family reunification under your provisions regarding cohabitation or isolated persons.

As for the discrimination between foreigners, if I acknowledge that a positive step is taken in the right direction for some of them, I sincerely regret that, for a number of other categories, their rights have not simply been equalized with those of other foreigners and Belgians. Why not have opened this right to all foreigners, admitted or allowed to stay on the territory for an indefinite period, as recommended in 1993 - already 9 years ago! - the Royal Commissioner for Immigration Policy and as also recommended, in its reports of 1997, 1999 and 2000, the Centre for Equal Opportunities? After the unfulfilled promises, for example on access to social assistance to the applicants for regularization, of whom a few hundred, maybe even a few thousand, are unfortunately still waiting for a decision on their case, this is still something that will not fail to disappoint all those who expected that, in the face of these applicants for regularization who have taken a step towards the Belgian society, the State also assumes a part of its responsibility and its contract.

I also wonder to what extent it makes sense to maintain this type of discrimination against certain foreigners whose usual public discourse generally demands with great force and insistence that they integrate.

I will conclude, Mr. Speaker, with a few quick reflections on the modalities of granting CPAS, first quantitatively and then qualitatively, before concluding.

The CPAS subsidies, quantitatively, will not increase in a linear way, allowing us to approach a situation where the federal government, which decides on a series of measures that can generate exclusions and therefore costs for CPAS, is exempt from the financial consequences. In many other European countries, however, this is the case. Here remains a form of relocalization, decentralization, postponement to the communal level or the CPAS of the burden of assuming problems that find their source in federal policies.

Qualitatively, the most problematic, most controversial aspects of your project will be doped by bonuses that will be allocated to the CPAS when they obtain that users initiate lawsuits against food debtors. There will also be a premium for contractualization, resulting in fixed-term jobs. There is a huge risk that CPAS are looking for solutions that, in reality, will be more inspired by the concern to reflux their own cash than by the concern to truly fulfill their mission towards users.

To conclude, Mr. Minister, I think that your project is a real retreat from the letter and spirit of the law of 1974. Yesterday, with the law of 1974, the minimum income of subsistence was granted as a base, as a treadmill, as a “fuel” for social integration. To hear you today — and, it must be acknowledged, since 1993 and the emergency program — it is the minimum income that is “dissintegrating, passive, passive, permissive or even abusive”. Work, which enables integration, becomes increasingly the necessary and exclusive condition of this integration.

In short, yesterday, income was the necessary condition for integration. With your project, integration becomes the necessary condition of income. We have therefore completely changed direction, we are at the antipodes of the spirit of 1974, and obviously, all this will concretely translate into more exclusion, into more difficulties for a number of people who will not assume the Leonine conditions of this type of contract that you will impose on them. As for the questions concerning amounts and links to well-being, I fear that despite the repeated insistence of many of our friends for several months, we still do not have the necessary guarantees today about those famous 10% that were already promised to us for much earlier than the end of the legislature. I wonder now whether the political will really remains to grant them before the end of this legislature.

First of all, I would like to thank the members of the committee for the quality of the discussions that surrounded the discussion of this project. I think that our meetings have nevertheless made it possible to clarify the scope of the bill on the key points, and that both at the level of the opposition and the majority, there have been improvement proposals that are ⁇ in a way to facilitate the implementation of the bill on the ground.

The quality of Mrs. Burgeon’s report, which is very detailed and which very well reflects the various explanations or questions that have been asked, will ⁇ also illuminate the bill from multiple facets. I would like to thank her very much for this report.

I think the work has gone well even though I will never be able to convince Mr. and Decroly. Maybe he doesn’t want to be persuaded, it’s also possible. I will give you this small example. You said that we were going straight towards adding conditions to a right that, for now, is acquired. We can take the example of the contract. Today, without this law, for those between the ages of 18 and 25, the contract is an absolute condition, without exception, to obtain the minimex. This is the current law.

With the new law, for those between 18 and 25 years old, there are two situations where a contract is needed, in particular the one where the young person has requested to do full-time studies and where, in agreement with the CPAS and the young person, the conditions under which this will be done are fixed. I think this is quite normal. When we ask this question, we have a possibility to do it, we determine what we will do between the two partners.

The second situation is when there is an integration contract that leads to a job after this training. There too, as it is two aspects that are joint, a contract is planned to fix the way things will go.

Today, once the law has been passed, there is a contract only in two well-defined situations, so it is no longer an absolute condition. To say that we are going toward a contractualization is therefore not correct. I cannot convince you on this point, but the truth has its rights. The reality is that in this project, we did not increase the constraints but we opened opportunities and removed certain obligations as in the example of the integration contract for all those between 18 and 25 years of age.

This project is an important part of our policy with a view to increasing social cohesion. I do not mean, however, that Mr. Paque said it was a revolution. If in practice it does not bring a fundamental change, it brings it in terms of rights and principles with an orientation towards social integration rather than towards a social benefit. by

The same phenomenon occurred, in 1974, when the law on the minimex was adopted. Before the vote of this law, did no one receive allowance? and no. Some sums similar to those paid under the minimex were already paid. The practice was therefore not very far from what was introduced by the 1974 law, but the latter brought a fundamental change in the sense in which a right to the minimex was granted. The same goes for today. In practice, many things were accomplished in terms of integration and accompaniment, but this law makes it a right that is no longer limited to an allocation but goes further towards a more comprehensive integration. It should also be noted that the allocation of an allowance does not necessarily mean that social integration will be carried out. This is an element of this law that was important to emphasize. by

It is clear that the right to social inclusion must be opened to different perspectives. This includes training. This law offers much greater opportunities in the field of training. Today we know that a large proportion of people who are in charge of CPAS continue their studies in secondary education or take technical training. Therefore, they are not called to have a diploma that offers them many opportunities on the job market. by

Access to training, full-time study, an individualized project is therefore provided for progressive insertion into social life. The right to employment adapted to young people is a key element of the bill. This is a legal mission. At the level of principles, this is a real change.

The competence of the federal authority is clear, but in view of the implementation of these measures, it would be appropriate to consult with the regions which are also competent in employment policy.

In this regard, it will be necessary to ensure that the action of the CPAS is integrated into the local environment where the different actors can work together. Where this does not yet exist, a collaboration should be established between the CPAS and other local and regional actors active in the field of occupational insertion.

CPAS will have to act in partnership with these actors, with a specific role according to the clientele, but which must not escape the overall coordination.

In the coming months, I will devote, as has already been the case, all my efforts for this project to be carried out. The various officials at the federal and regional levels, like me, wish this project to be successful. by

The active employment policy of the OCMWs is, also for the government, a continuation of the spring program. Thanks to that program, we have a very clear increase in the number of employees and a decrease in the number of persons receiving benefits. Employment has increased by 60% in a period when the economy was doing bad, at a time when employment has not increased. Unemployment has increased. The number of people who received support from the OCMW has decreased, but also the number of people who received support and attended training has decreased by 60%. This is not due to economic growth, but rather to the action we have taken and the willingness of the OCMWs to make progress. I think that was a good choice. During the visits I have made on the site, I have also found great appreciation for the opportunities, both among people who worked in those programs and among the policy makers of the OCMWs, and many have heard witnesses of improved quality of life since then.

Of course, I agree that our priority for min twenty-five-year-olds is questionable. I would lie if I said I am happy with it. We would much rather have written in the draft law that the right was for everyone. However, I do not have much desire to fix a provision that I absolutely cannot carry out and cannot carry out for everyone, even not as a kind of resource commitment, that it is now in widespread extent. Our choice, therefore, does not mean that employment of other categories would be less valuable and less important.

However, we had to make this choice for three reasons. First, we cannot deny that appealing to the OCMW is dramatic for everyone, but that it is all the more difficult to digest for young school dropouts, for whom it is even the first experience with the adult society. This can cause more frustration in them than in people who ask for help from the OCMW consider an unfortunate period alongside other periods in their life. Secondly, the number of young people is huge and is increasing. Third, in the current employment programmes, the number of young people is clearly underestimated. Young people are below the level. Usually some older people are employed. As a percentage, young people are given far fewer opportunities to work in such programs. All this was based on the choices we made. However, I would be the first to congratulate an extension if it is possible.

Furthermore, we must make sure that it is not a shift in which the same thing is given to someone else, so that one gets more money allocated. I agree that this is not the intention. If the result is that more individuals and proportionally more young people are involved in the programmes, I welcome the scheme, because that is the goal. If the result is that everything stays with the old, but everything shifts, then we partially skip our goal. We have done something positive for the young people, but not for other people.

The project includes an increase of 4% from 1 January 2002. That was already decided. I hope that we can introduce a further 4% increase before the end of this legislature, along with an increase in the other benefits. This will, of course, depend on the extent to which we can provide sufficient financial resources for this. I’ve never promised anything until now if I wasn’t sure there was money available for it. I hope it is there. I think it should be a priority. It is also stated in the government statement to make another increase. In any case, it is an important part of the budget discussion in October and November. You know my ambitions. We will have to see if we can accomplish them. And in no way, it is aimed at reinforcing the conditionality of the right. I have the opportunity to say very clearly. A ma demande de savoir où, dans le projet de loi, on trouvait un renforcement des conditions, you n'ai obtenu jusqu'à présent, après un an, aucune réponse.

I will not try to convince you. The Minister . I’m not sure if he wants to be persuaded.

Frankly, when you move from a type of sanctions like the one that was already planned — unfortunately — but which was relatively light, through the emergency program for a more solidary society (Law of 1993), to a type of sanctions that provides for 6 months of suspension possible even in the case of non-fraud and up to 12 months of suspension in the case of recurrence without fraudulent intention, how do you want to make any citizen normally constituted on the intellectual level believe that the pressure on the user is not increased, that the unbalanced character of the pseudo-contract you propose is not enhanced? It is obvious! This crushes the eyes!

and no. Are you talking about the sanctions that are taken in cases of non-compliance with the signed contract or non-declaration of income? In these cases, it is not the conditionality of work that is at issue. Sanctions are limited to very specific situations.

Per ⁇ you are intellectually right, and I too. Currently, a number of CPAS very quickly remove the payment of the entire allocation. It must be recognised that in some cases there could be an increase in penalties. But we could also see the opposite effect. by

Currently, the practice of some CPAS is strict. They apply full punishment, without any pity. The Social Security Council has certain rules. If the social worker considers a situation to be inadmissible, the case judging committee may follow that opinion without even a discussion. It is almost automatic. This is a common practice. There are two alternatives: increase or decrease. The evaluation will tell us what it is.

Mr. Minister, all the reports of sociologists and criminologists on the question of sanctions say that when you loosen the sanctions system in the way you speak, of course, on the purely theoretical and virtual level, the two hypotheses you advance are at the level of probability of equal application but on the level of practice, the well-known principle of "netwinding" indicates that it is always in the disadvantage of the weakest part that things are exercised and that sanctions are applied much more in the new device against persons who, in the old, simply would not have been sanctioned. This is a rule of sociology and criminology well known to all serious people.

Even if I apply this rule, it does not mean that there will be more penalties overall. I repeat it again. We will see what the evaluation will reveal.

However, I contest the repeal, even though it has been explained in this debate. In fact, there is always the possibility of negative and unpredictable consequences. by

It is logical and legitimate to evaluate a new law. The representative associations of the applicants for social assistance have expressed to us some of their concerns about the ways of applying this bill which poses certain problems. That is why I wish to be able to discuss with them royal arrests plans when they are ready. An important meeting will be held.

More generally, the application of this new law will be evaluated after its first year of entry into force. My intention is to ask universities to implement it in consultation with users and CPAS.

If distortions appear in the application of the law in relation to the objectives set, they will of course need to be corrected. This assessment will have to take into account the target audiences, the improvement of user rights, the application of the right to employment, the state intervention in the integration income especially for students and other things that will prove important.

The entry into force of the new law will also have to be preceded by a major information campaign for the rightholders and the CPAS themselves. My intention is to provide for the dissemination of information presented in a simple and didactic way for people living from the allowance. It is essential that these persons can know their new rights arising from this bill. Contact will be made in this sense with communication professionals but ⁇ also with the Centre for Equal Opportunities. Similarly, more technical information will be developed for industry professionals in the form of circles, brochures, information sessions. Finally, what we are doing here is to adapt a social protection system to a new reality. In 1974, the minimum social protection was the provision of an income. People had no income and had to be repaired. It is clear that the lack of income remains, in our society, a major problem but it must also be said that owning an income no longer brings the solutions that, in 1974, could still unfold. In our society, apart from income, it is the right to integration that has become the most important, the right to be useful and to feel useful and to be able to use money in a normal way. This is the whole problem of debt, integration through training, employment and against dualization. These are new methodologies that adapt to the fact that, in our society, poverty is no longer expressed only by the fact of income but also by cultural, social elements, housing, training, debt. A policy that is limited only to granting an allocation loses its purpose.