ESPN Thematic Report on Access to essential services for low-income people – France

Résumé 0

No legal definition of “essential services” features in French law, at either national,regional or local levels. The concept, which comes from the development field, is knownbut rarely employed in France, probably because it does not fit in with the egalitarianapproach of public service and general interest that characterise French social policy.The various types of assistance for services considered as essential in this report areusually put in place by local authorities or service-providing organisations and involve arange of criteria. Low income is only one criterion among others, which include age,professional or household situation, and health status. When income is an essentialfactor, rather than a precise figure, the most frequent reference point is whether theapplicant is a recipient of minimum social benefits.Most of the problems faced by people in difficulty, whether involving water, sanitation,energy, transport or digital issues, are about everyday use rather than availability, whichis usually guaranteed by the development of infrastructures. In terms of the right to abank account, once again difficulties concern usage more than access. Some inhabitantsliving in mainland France, and even more so in the French overseas territories, are facedwith the real impossibility of accessing essential services. This miscellaneous populationincludes homeless people, people living in insanitary housing or social hostels, incaravans installed on undeveloped land, or in tents on the street, and comprises a largenumber of refugees, travellers and people evicted from their homes. The situation of thisgroup of people is very different from that of very-low-income households, who struggleto pay their water, gas and electricity bills, and do not make journeys because theycannot afford to pay for fuel or train tickets.Because the legal notion of essential services does not exist, there is no general policy onfinancing these services for people on low incomes. However, the implementation in 1988of a minimum-income benefit (revenue minimum d’insertion), which became activesolidarity income (revenu de solidarité active – RSA) in 2008, was devised to provide themost deprived people with the financial conditions to ensure their minimum needs weresatisfied. Since minimum social benefits, including the RSA, proved insufficient to meetthe needs of population groups in poverty, over the years, occasional, specific socialassistance has developed to enable access to water, energy and transport. Thisassistance can take the more traditional form of social assistance, but can also combinedifferent approaches, such as assistance for low-income people and social support for theecological transition.The most recent policies, centred on water, transport, energy and digital services, putlittle emphasis on personal assistance and instead provide local authorities and serviceproviders with a clear framework to develop such support.The final part of this report provides an analysis of energy-focused assistance. Aid in thisarea combines action to combat energy insecurity affecting individuals (i.e. absence ofhousehold – and collective – resources, badly built housing) with support for the energytransition, which was at the root of the “yellow vest” crisis.