ENIM extended to resident seamen
Article 31 of the Finance Act on the financing of social security for 2016 introduced an obligation for foreign shipowners employing seamen residing in France on a stable and regular basis to join the French old-age insurance scheme if these seafarers are not already subject to a European social security scheme or to a scheme of a country which has ratified a bilateral convention on social security with France. A decree published on 11 March 2017 in the Official Gazette specifies the procedures for affiliation to the social protection schemes managed by ENIM, following the law.
Visible consequences
While its objective was to come to the aid of yachting and luxury yachting sailors settled in France, and in particular on the Côte d'Azur, the perverse effects of the law are already being felt. Franck Dosne, director of the Riviera Ports network, which includes Cannes and Antibes, describes its consequences. "The crewing companies have stopped, for the moment, the recruitment of sailors residing in France pending further information. Some shipowners have even decided to separate from French resident seamen on board. Most of the pre-season job advertisements state that they are not open to French resident sailors. More seriously, this text is extremely harmful to the attractiveness of the territory of the French Riviera, the world's leading yacht sailing area." He fears that yachts will desert the Côte d'Azur, where their crew would be considered residents if they made too many stops there during the year.
Procedure before the Council of State
A group of yachting professionals, federating sectoral associations such as the ECPY or the CCI Nice Côte d'Azur, the port manager Vauban 21, have decided to bring an appeal against the decree before the Council of State. They request the annulment of the decree but also its suspension in summary proceedings as well as the deployment of a mission to evaluate the measure.
