Paris government to impose nine-month residency requirement in France to qualify for social aid
Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal confirmed on Friday that the conditions of residence in France will be tightened in order for a person to be eligible for social aid, measures that are expected to apply from 2024. The aim is to combat fraud with such funds, the scale of which is estimated at least €8 billion a year, reports Le Figaro, quoted by News.ro.
In an interview with Europe 1, the minister also announced that aid payments to non-EU accounts would stop on 1 July.
He wants to impose a minimum of nine months' residence per year in France for people wishing to receive social aid.
For the time being, the residence requirement differs from one benefit to another. For the least restrictive, presence in France for at least six months a year is sufficient, on the same principle as tax residence. These include family allowances, minimum old-age pension, widow's/widower's insurance and supplementary invalidity allowance.
Housing benefit (APL) is paid for a dwelling in France occupied for at least eight months a year, "except for professional obligations, health reasons or force majeure", the law states.
Gabriel Attal would therefore like to align the residence condition for these social benefits with the more restrictive minimum social income (RSA), which requires nine months' annual presence in the country. However, this benefit is still paid even if this criterion is not met, but only for "full" months of presence in France.
The tightening of the measures is expected to be ratified in early May, when a comprehensive plan to combat social and tax fraud promised by Emmanuel Macron during his speech on Monday 17 April as a counterweight to raising the retirement age is announced.
