This is the social security scheme for employees and students. It covers 57 million French people, more than 87% of the population. It also funds 86% of health spending in the country, with resources from mainly social contributions (48%) and CSG (36%).

In 2010, the CPAM (Caisse primary health insurance) paid 142 billion euros in benefits, an average of € 5,260 per person. This total includes:

-Benefits in kind: reimbursement of medical expenses, hospital fees …

-Cash benefits: daily allowances of sickness.

Its current deficit was 18.6 billion euros.

Note: the local scheme of comprehensive health insurance benefits paid by Medicare for the inhabitants of Alsace (Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin) and Moselle.  

The agricultural system

The agricultural system provides both operators (attached to the AMEXA) and agricultural workers. It is managed by the MSA (MSA). It protects 3.5 million beneficiaries and $ 28 billion benefit in 2010, € 4670 per person per year. As for the general scheme, this amount includes benefits in kind and cash. Reimbursements for medical expenses are also identical. Its deficit is currently $ 1.4 billion.

Namely: the scheme provides not only those working on farms, but also employees of service companies in connection with the agricultural community, as insurance or banking.

The social system of independent (RSI)

This plan administers health insurance for artisans, merchants and professionals. However, it manages itself as contributions. Indeed, the repayments are in turn delegated to agencies under contract who are insurers or mutual. It covers 3.5 million beneficiaries who receive benefits 6.8 billion.

The reimbursement of medical expenses and hospitalization are again identical to those of employees. However, some professions, such as professionals, do not receive any daily allowances in case of sickness.

The special insurance

Certain sectors or companies, for historical reasons, developed their own health insurance. They are special diets. There are 11 in total, among which are the regimes of sailors, soldiers, mining companies (which merged with the basic plan to end 2013), SNCF, RATP, the gas industry and electricity, the Bank of France, clerks and employees of notaries … But also the Paris Opera, the Port of Bordeaux, the National Assembly or the Senate.

All these schemes are grouped in the National Union Special (UNRS). They cover a total of about 5 million people. Reimbursements for medical expenses are generally identical to those of employees. However, some plans offer more benefits.

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The French seem receptive to advice of tax professionals. In recent weeks, get an appointment with a notary has become very complicated. And the situation should not be arranged by May 6. Alarmed by the tightening of tax rules announced in an election for president Francois Hollande, the French wish to transfer their wealth to their children under current conditions more favorable. The Socialist candidate has indeed warned that it would lower the tax exemption limit of 159,325 euros (set in 2007 by Nicolas Sarkozy) to 100,000 euros. It also intends to extend ten to fifteen years the period between two donations exempt.

Interviewed by Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, and several notaries are reports of increased requests for donation from the beginning of the year. A new situation, as noted by the Council of Notaries which includes national information feedback from the field. In some studies, the number of cases has doubled, and professionals are overwhelmed. "I contacted my lawyer to get information, but since I can no longer be reached," says Martine Perez, who claims that several people around him are now in the same situation waiting, despite a case being finalized.

According to the notaries, the situation does not deserve such eagerness of the French. Even when changing the tax rules in the aftermath of the election, the required publication of implementing regulations to allow taxpayers a few weeks to make arrangements. But the concern is greatest. Amazing phenomenon indeed, it is not just the wealthy. According to Elodie Fremont, notary quoted by Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, a couple of workers chose to give the bare ownership of principal residence to their daughter to keep only the usufruct. A recent decision to avoid being subject to future tax reform.

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Brussels is the historical telecom operators in his sights. As revealed in the Financial Times, Brussels sent a questionnaire to the association GSMA operators and each of the heavyweights, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone, requesting details of the informal club that 'they are since October 2010.

This club was created at the initiative of Stéphane Richard, who had just taken the head of France Telecom. His idea was to get acquainted with his counterparts and see how they could reflect together on major issues in the sector. Including the rise of Internet giants, Google, Netflix, Apple, Facebook, described as "over the top" or "OTT", an image to say they piggyback on carrier networks without paying the price.

Met for the first time 8 October 2010 in Paris, this "Famous Five" took a half dozen times. Aware that regular meetings of the five trucks, which together weigh more than one billion subscribers, may soon be mistaken for an agreement, the participants took their precautions easy payday loans. A lawyer shall attend the meetings and a report is sent each time to the European authorities. Moreover, Neelie Kroes, the Vice-President of the Commission responsible for digital strategy, participated in two of these meetings in Barcelona in February 2011 and 2012, alongside the Mobile World Congress.

Moratorium on lower prices

But today, relations are strained between telecommunications and the European Commissioner. This summer, Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, René Obermann, Chairman of Deutsche Telekom, and Ben Verwaayen, CEO Alcatel-Lucent, met Neelie Kroes to hand over 11 proposals for the future of the sector. But the Commission did not adopt these proposals.

Especially a clash occurred last February in Barcelona between Neelie Kroes and the bosses of the five main mobile operators. They have asked Brussels for a moratorium on the reduction of roaming charges (calls from abroad). They are also dissatisfied with broken promises that Brussels was considering contributing up to a billion euros to broadband Internet on the Old Continent.

The Swiss are about to bolster their reputation for needy people. They will vote Sunday on whether to increase the minimum paid leave of four to six weeks per year. They should, if one believes an RTS survey released this week, overwhelmingly reject this offer, 30% of respondents only showing himself to be favorable.

In the employers and government, the vote on March 11, organized at the initiative of the union Travail.Suisse, unsurprisingly raises hostility. Swiss companies are concerned that this increase in leisure time would harm the competitiveness of a country where labor costs are already among the highest in the world. With the key, they are in custody, a rising unemployment. At 4.2% in 2010, the unemployment rate Helvetic is currently one of the lowest in the OECD.  

The French model which appears as a perfect example-cons. Since the law on the 35 hours they were "much more free time than the Swiss and it did not bring much," judge the employers' organization economiesuisse. "The unemployment rate is high, the economy has weakened and the French were wearing pale twice as often as the Swiss," says the organization.

The unions, meanwhile, argue that the productivity Swiss jumped 20% in 1992 and 2007, and it's fair that employees derive some benefits. According to them, two weeks extra vacation would also reduce the stress suffered by third asset.

Conquest of paid leave late

Within the Swiss population, the reluctance of employers to amend the social model seems widely shared. "These holidays that prevent work in peace" was the headline in mid-February the daily Le Temps. The RTS survey highlights that the Swiss Latin are more attracted by the proposal that the Swiss allémaniques, over 40% against 30% in the general population. But Le Matin claims that the work is valued highly consensual. And remember that for over half a century, all efforts to shorten the working week were unsuccessful.

The conquest of paid leave was made later in Switzerland than in France. It was not until 1964 has been entered in the 'Code of Obligations "to give the workers a minimum of two weeks paid vacation per year. The right to four weeks will be introduced 20 years later. Even if some collective agreements already provide a framework more favorable than the statutory minimum, "let it be said here, it is not in France, insists Time. 1936, paid holidays decreed by Leon Blum, the hordes of workers blissful hurling on the N7, it's not with us. "

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Monitoring greenhouse tomatoes by computer processing of GPS fields, sales of wheat on the futures market … French farmers have nothing to do with their ancestors. Now they are showing their attachment to the land of a sudden high-tech.Plus question, for example, to sow the fly in vegetable and grain farms. The embedded software on tractors is more effective. Sebastien Objois, wheat producer in Evry, came to be convinced to stand agricultural equipment of the Exhibition of Agriculture. He witnessed a demonstration of interest Farmstar, which uses data from satellites SPOT 4 and SPOT 5. With this system, a digital pad and connected to the preprogrammed drill or spray can, depending on the characteristics of the field, sow more or less dense or spread more or less treatment.

"With board computerized equipment in the tractor plugged Spot 4 and Spot 5, you can sow your field with an accuracy of 2 centimeters," says Michel Fuga, who came to promote the Farmstar Porte de Versailles. Advantage for growers: Pesticide use is reduced by 5-15%. This saving can be amortized over three years the cost of equipment (about 15,000 euros).

More free time

Technological advances also benefit dairy farmers. With milking robots, the constraints of the morning and evening disappear. The cows go by themselves to trafficking. "The monitoring of the herd is behind the screen using a special software," says Eric Swartvagher, administrator ANEFA, National Association for the employment and training in agriculture.

Computers are also present in vegetable greenhouses. "Eating tomatoes above ground is now available from a computer, which controls the amount of water and air," says Angelique Delahaye, president of France and producer of vegetables in Touraine.

It is not enough to produce, we also sell the goods. The use of futures market or delayed deliveries, and a deadline for a given price, is becoming more common. "I practiced for several months to sell my pigs and to buy my food. But it took me to form, "says Philippe Upstream, pig farmer in Brittany.

"These new techniques not only meet the objective of increasing yields, and therefore income, but also a willingness of farmers to benefit from free time and family life close to those of society," said Christophe Malvezin, Agricultural Counselor, Embassy of France in Washington and former agricultural adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy.

Despite these advances, the French agriculture still has a wide margin for improvement. "While the United States, 80% of crops are produced by biotechnology, in France it is delayed, concludes Guy Vasseur, president of the Permanent Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture (APCA). France can not be a spectator in this area of ​​what is happening in the world. "

680,000 visitors to the agricultural show this year

Vintage 2012 International Exhibition of Agriculture (SIA) is very good. "We record 680,000 visitors, slightly more than last year," says Jean-Luc Poulain, president of SIA. This figure could be revised upwards as a computer bug has disrupted the counting inputs. "Merchants have never worked so hard that Wednesday, we recorded one of the lowest attendance days, with 55,000 entries," says Jean-Luc Poulain. The Friday night has been successful in statistics, with nearly 107,000 visitors for the biggest day of the show. Again this year, the SIA will remain the largest agricultural fair in the world with this feature: together in one place all the farm animals.

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Barracks, land, old prisons, offices, mansions, forest houses, homes: the state gives each year hundreds of properties it no longer use. These sales it earned 590 million last year. This policy will continue. The State expects to sell 1,870 properties in 2012, 2013 and 2014, for 2.2 billion euros. And everywhere in France (see map).

If sales have accelerated since 2007 (2.8 billion in revenue since then, against 1.8 billion from 2002 to 2006), this is a result of the restructuring of the state initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy. Especially at regional and departmental services of various departments were grouped into two or three entities. Enough free space over the years. The merger of Taxation and Treasury Bercy has the same effect, as the consolidation of the judicial and military maps.

However, over 85% of the gains from these sales were used to renovate or construct public buildings. Only the balance, under 15, reduced the state debt. Playing rules will change, however. Starting this year, 20% of sales (excluding Ministry of Defence in particular) will go to debt reduction. The proportion will reach 30% in 2014.

Another downside: it is often other public, and especially the municipalities, who acquire the assets transferred by the State. Of Commons that value then the operation. Example: the city of Versailles, through the establishment of public land Yvelines, bought at the army barracks in 2011 Pawn in Versailles. The city will create on the site of activity areas and housing. The subject has also become political, presidential forces. Francois Hollande suggested that the state sells its land free of charge to municipalities so that they will develop social housing. Nicolas Sarkozy denies the charge assignment and advocates an acceleration of land sales.

Foreign investors

In Paris, foreign investors are also part. Thus, the former headquarters of Météo France, near the Eiffel Tower, was sold for sixty million to the Russian state, which will build an Orthodox cathedral. Yves Deniaud, UMP deputy chairman of the Real Estate Council of State, has openly on the Qataris, the Russians and Chinese to buy four mansions for sale in the seventh arrondissement. Individuals who are interested in goods, cheaper, in the province can learn about the site of France Field (www2.budget.gouv.fr/cessions) listing properties for sale.  

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"Dividend pay" or "exceptional bonus"? At the end of March, employees of the SNCF, will receive a nice bonus, the maximum amount, determined on the basis of seniority in the firm, reach 400 euros. The amount far exceeds that of 76 euros seen last year by the railroad.

Yet it gives rise to a real battle between railway union. On the one hand, the CFDT calls this premium "wage dividend" as a just retribution for "efforts" and it echoes the "record dividend" of € 221 million paid by SNCF to the State under fiscal 2011. "The CFDT and UNSA have successfully negotiated for its amount is reassessed, insists Tosolini Fabian, of the CFDT-railroaders. The rate was revised upwards through discussions with management. While we regret the randomness of its payment, we think this is good news for rail workers. "

The CGT, however, has no words strong enough to evoke what she prefers to call a "gratuity", "wage dividend" is a word "willfully misleading" and "can not exist in a public company," ensures the CGT. Above all, it is "funded by the job cuts, deteriorating living conditions and working railway, the extreme pressure on wages, the brake on career paths and declining social rights".

It is true that the CGT launched a strike notice for the day of 29 February on employment, wages and improved working conditions. The premium of 400 euros fell ill five days before the big day

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"Whatever the horizon, the sun is unavoidable in our energy mix, as well prepared." Consultant with the firm Kurt Salmon, Celine Alléaume strongly believes in developing the sector in France and its performance on international markets, provided a policy and regulatory framework more stable and certainly more readable. A few weeks before elections, the firm Kurt Salmon and the think-tank France Monday Territory Solar publish the first edition of the Observatory for solar photovoltaics.

"This is an evolving tool, which will be updated and expanded every quarter. Relying on public data, our goal is to provide clear indicators that help to objectify the debate, "said Celine Alléaume.

The photovoltaic park remains marginal

The main finding of the observatory is hardly conducive to optimism: over the last two years, the French photovoltaic park has certainly developed to exceed the 2300-megawatt (MW) combined-connected power, but it remains marginal while digging its lag behind the most advanced countries. "The residential market, initial engine market and generates employment, came into decay since the moratorium of 2 December 2010. Other markets may follow the same trend in the next two years, "says this inaugural edition. According to several players, more than half the jobs in the sector (about 25,000 at the origin) have been destroyed over the past year.

For Celine Alléaume, the goal of the Grenelle Environment -5 gigawatts by 2020 – is already obsolete: "Other countries are growing so fast that the target should be revised upwards. If the government maintains, the French industry will not find that more difficult to place in world markets. Today, we talk a lot of sun in France but its weight is insignificant (0.29% of electricity production in 2011). "

Celine Alléaume still puts forward the statistics of the American NGO Pew Charitable Trust to attest to the weakness of the French position: "On some 56 billion invested in small solar projects in 2010, France has only counted a little over 3 billion. Similarly, while more than 22 GW were installed in Germany until 2011, our country has only one just over 2.5 GW. "Under these conditions, the whole" animation "of one sector and sectors that remains to be clarified: positioning research, choice of technology marketing, distribution of roles and responsibilities across the value chain

.

After many twists and turns, Greece is on track to reach agreement with its private and public creditors on Monday. After Jean-Claude Juncker, the leader of the euro area, which showed his confidence on the outcome of the meeting scheduled for Monday, it was the turn of the Spokesman of the Greek government to report his optimism.

Pantelis Kapsis estimated that his country has "the green light of the Eurogroup on Monday to continue the proceedings". In fact, the latter confirmed that Athens would have found a way to fill the gap of 325 million euros in the 2012 budget, the last condition set by the Troika (the IMF, the ECB and the European Union) to unlock loan of EUR 130 billion and run the erase operation 100 billion of securities held by private creditors. According to Greek media, these savings would come from additional cuts in special pay schemes public service, drop some special pensions and declining defense budget and pharmaceutical expenditure.

Moreover, the European Central Bank and central banks of euro area countries have initiated the exchange of Greek bonds in their possession against others, to generate capital gains that should ultimately benefit in Athens, according information reported by the German daily Die Welt guaranteed payday loans.

The markets also seem to believe that an agreement will be reached Monday. This morning, the stock markets in Asia are well oriented, driven by good statistics in the United States but also by the hope that agreement will soon be born. U.S. markets ended Thursday's session at their highest level since May 2008.

But Greece could agree to pay this price. The release of the necessary loan of 130 billion euros would indeed be conditioned to a wider public audit of the country. The agreement would include the creation of an escrow account which would contain sufficient funds to repay the debts of the country over the next twelve months. Moreover, Athens would complete a list of "24 priority actions" before the end of the month and before the release of the famous loan of the Troika, says the Financial Times.

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The streets of Athens rose up against Angela Merkel and "diktat" German, which inflict a further course of rigor drastic to Greece. The criticism comes from all sides against the "iron chancellor" whose bitter potions would compress the growth throughout Europe. But his hand does not tremble. Sunday, hours before the vote of the Greek Parliament, Berlin has again raised the pressure to impose its will.

"The promises of Greece are no longer sufficient for us," warned Wolfgang Schäuble, Minister of Finance, pillar of the German government, in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. "It's important to say that it can be a bottomless pit. That is why the Greeks will finally have to clog the well. Then we can put something. At least people are now beginning to realize that it will not work with a bottomless pit. "Like many of his partner, Judge Berlin that the commitments of Athens are too often gone unheeded and demanded the immediate implementation of new austerity measures.

Stir in the coalition

Deemed the most pro-European member of the Government of the Rhine, Schäuble judge the rescue of Greece even more difficult than the reunification of Germany … The cost of the upgrading of the former GDR is estimated at 1,000 billion euros. Citing polls, he stressed that the Germans are largely in favor of an international aid to Greece. "We are pleased to offer our assistance, but we should not give others the impression that they have not done enough. Each state is responsible for itself, "he says. "Greece must do its homework to become competitive, it requires a new rescue plan or some other way that we do not want to take."

The German finance minister and openly discusses the assumption of an outflow of Greece in the euro area. "Everything is in the hands of the Greeks themselves. But even in that event, on which no table, they remain an integral part of Europe ", said Schäuble. The warning from the Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, is even blunter: "If Athens lays groundwork for sustainable, then Greece can count on our help. But only in this way. Only actions count. "

The Greek crisis causes a stir in the center-right coalition of Angela Merkel. Chancellor, who had raised that possibility in December 2011, now excludes any output of Greece in the euro area. According to his spokesman, there is no alternative to restoring the solvency of Greece. And an output of the eurozone countries would not be in the interest of Germany. According to German media, Merkel would have been convinced by the French president that such a scenario would expose the entire euro area markets virulent attacks. And it opposes several of his ministers on this issue.

However, a new aid plan for Greece, which contribute Berlin, will be voted on by the Bundestag on 27 February. If Athens does not concede quantifiable efforts by then, a new political showdown looms on the lower house of German parliament. Because, for Germany, solidarity also commits those who promise to respect the common rules of operation.

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