Moroccan Families Could Avoid France’s Proposed One-Year Wait for Benefits
The French government wants to delay access to family benefits and housing assistance for some foreign nationals starting in 2027. But the proposal includes an exception for people covered by international agreements. The Franco-Moroccan convention could therefore preserve some rights, as lawmakers challenge the reform.
A one-year wait to receive family benefits in France? The government wants to impose this delay on some foreign nationals from countries outside the European Union. For Moroccan nationals, a provision in the bill could change the picture: protections provided for under international conventions.
Article 37 of the 2027 Social Security budget, tabled on October 1, requires twelve months of legal residence before several entitlements can be accessed. Family benefits, the birth grant, the family supplement and the back-to-school allowance are among the benefits concerned. Personal housing assistance is also covered.
The text does, however, include a decisive exception: the waiting period would not apply to foreign nationals entitled to equal treatment under an international agreement concluded with France or the European Union.
The France-Morocco convention changes the picture
Signed on October 22, 2007, and entering into force on June 1, 2011, the Franco-Moroccan social security convention provides for precisely this principle of equality. According to the Cleiss, it covers salaried and self-employed workers, people receiving unemployment benefits and certain categories of pensioners, as well as their dependants, under the terms of the agreement.
This protection applies to family benefits covered by the convention. The situation is different for housing assistance (APL): eligibility depends on a reference to the Social Security Code, and the Franco-Moroccan agreement does not automatically guarantee the same exemptions.
The government is also considering renegotiating certain conventions to broaden the application of its policy.
The reform is already facing strong opposition. On October 16, the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee voted to remove Article 37. But the government’s original text returned to the floor on October 20, opening a new debate.
In a joint opinion piece published in La Croix, 31 organizations denounce the measure’s consequences. They cite, in particular, 25 000 households that could temporarily lose their housing assistance.
If it is ultimately adopted, the reform would apply to new entitlements from a date set by decree, no later than July 1, 2027. Its fate now depends on parliamentary debate.
