Value-added sharing, the Gaullist “Third Way” between capitalism and communism

Third, third, third. For Nicolas Sarkozy, corporate profits should be shared according to a simple rule – and fixed by the state: one-third to employees, one-third to shareholders and one-third to be reinvested in the company. “The account is not there” assessed by the former president of the Republic in 2009, in the midst of the subprime crisis, condemned “Profit Expulsion by Shareholders”. Two years later, Elise presented hers “Premium vs Dividend” – Companies paying dividends to pay premiums exempt from contributions – similar “Employee Dividend” Now Emmanuel Macron promoted it. With a philosophy recently summed up by the Head of State: “When you suddenly have an increase in dividends for your shareholders, then the company should have a mechanism that is identical for the employees. »

The left one took it out Sarkozy Award In 2015, his judgment” ineffective “. Less than ten years later, the idea has resurfaced, in almost identical terms. Under pressure from inflationary wages, MEP Pascal Canfin presented two proposals for mechanisms on Tuesday, November 29 on Franceinfo on behalf of the majority party, Renaissance. On the one hand, “Employee Dividend”, Which forces all companies that pay dividends to establish a value-sharing scheme for their employees. and “super activity”, which would be paid to the employees of the implementing companies “Super Dividends” (Over 20% average of the last five years, only for companies with more than fifty employees). These two ways are still to be studied by the social partners who are currently working on the matter and may be the subject of a legislative text as early as 2023.

The issue of value sharing, A symbol of this hexagonal “Third Way” that seeks to reconcile labor and capital, He never left the French political scene. A project at the heart of Social Gaulism, profit sharing in 1959, then participation, which became compulsory in 1967, was implemented by decree against the advice of trade unions and employers. The head of state saw in it a middle ground between totalitarian communism and capitalism, which essentially carries “Massive and persistent dissatisfaction”He writes in himself Memoirs.

“I condemn both these opposing regimes, therefore I believe that everything commands our civilization to build a new one, which will order human relations in such a way that each one directly participates in the results of the enterprise in which he conducts his efforts.writes General de Gaulle. Is it not a transposition at the economic level, taking into account the data characteristic of it, what are the rights and duties of the citizen in the political order? »