France: Will Nicolas Sarkozy launch a parliamentary mission to examine basic income?

French politician Christine Boutin withdraw her candidacy for the next presidential election, and announced on the French television TF1 that she reached an agreement with the unofficial candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.

The president of the Christian-Democrat Party explained that recent speeches of the president Nicolas Sarkozy proved he defends the same values as her such as family, marriage, work, and religious roots of Europe. All in all: Conservative values. As a contrast, Christine Boutin is a long-time supporter of basic income and is very committed in the fight against poverty.

Yet in 2011, Boutin made clear she would support Sarkozy under three conditions, including the basic income (see an earlier article on BI News). Indeed, she said on TF1 that the agreement finally reached with Nicolas Sarkozy included a deal about the basic income. Apparently, Sarkozy would mandate her to lead a parliamentary commission to examine the proposal, and would play “an important role” in the election campaign.

Does Nicolas Sarkozy actually support basic income? This remains unclear. At first sight, after all the measures taken against unemployment rights and social welfare by the government during his presidency, this seems very unlikely. But ironically, the general feeling in France is that Sarkozy is “capable of everything to stay in power”.

As Boutin said on TF1: “The basic income is a proposal currently discussed very seriously in Germany, and is perfectly fundable”. Could these arguments convince Nicolas Sarkozy? In a recent speech, the president was highly criticized for referring too much to the German model.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Christine Boutin met several times lately. According to sources familiar with Christine Boutin, the negotiations were running positively for her.

Christine Boutin advocates for a basic income of 400 euros per adult per month, and 200 per children, regardless of means. In her proposal, the basic income would substitute for several, but not all current social grants the French system offers, and would be conditioned upon the completion of compulsory national service, military or civilian.

Boutin’s proposal is considered “very low” from the basic income supporters in France. In a recent study (pdf), Marc de Basquiat proved 400 euros is, on average, the amount every French citizen already earns from the welfare system.

However, in a way, this would make the basic income “visible” behind the complex French social model, not to mention it would simplify it and make it much more understandable.