"Action is needed." After the fight against tax fraud, the government is tackling the fight against social fraud. "The Court of Auditors has evaluated, overall, between 6 and 8 billion euros per year all social fraud," explains the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal to the Parisian.
The former spokesman of Emmanuel Macron presented this Tuesday his plan to fight against social fraud, including that concerning people residing abroad.
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3 months more for family allowances, one month more for APL
From July 1, there will be no more payment of social benefits to foreign bank accounts, announced the minister. "I want to strengthen the residency requirement to receive social benefits in France," he continued.
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As mentioned at the beginning of March, the government wants above all to increase the duration of residence on French soil for all social minima and social benefits.
"Today, to benefit from family allowances or the minimum old-age pension, you have to spend six months of the year in France, eight months to receive the APL and nine months for the RSA and the activity bonus. From now on, to receive any social assistance, it will be necessary to reside nine months in France per year, "formalizes the Minister of Public Accounts.
Analyze airline data?
To manage these movements, the Minister of Public Accounts wants social protection organizations to be able to use the data of the PNR file (Passenger Name Record, Editor's note), these personal data of airlines on travelers' journeys, provided that the CNIL validates the legality of this process.
The goal is to "know in case of doubt if a person really resides in France or spends more time abroad. (...) The texts allow this. It's a regulatory measure, so it can go pretty fast," says Gabriel Attal.
And abroad?
In both Germany and Spain, in order to receive social benefits such as family allowances or housing assistance, you must have a "habitual residence" in the country. In Italy, to benefit from the basic income, only Italians who have been living in the country for at least two years and foreigners who have been legally in the country for ten years are eligible.
In Denmark, you must have resided for a total of seven years in the last eight years to receive financial support. In Austria, it is necessary to legally reside in the country for more than 5 years to benefit from the guaranteed minimum income. In the Netherlands, it is sufficient to "legally reside" in the territory to obtain a social benefit.