Interprofessional employers’ organizations in Reunion (CPME and Medef) and several organizations, historical employers' and professional associations and unions (Association for the industrial development of Reunion, Reunion Federation of Construction and Hospitality Industry Trades Union) announced on October 29 the creation of the Socle movement, “intended to strengthen collective action in favor of the economic and social development of the territory”.
The movement is intended to be informal for the moment, without legal structure, nor president, nor general secretary. Among the immediate priorities is obviously the preservation of exemptions from employer contributions., “essential to maintaining competitiveness and local employment”. A few days later, the government has announced that it is abandoning its plan to “cut back” exemptions from 2026, but the subject will come back to the table next year. Socle will also fight to maintain tax support for productive investment, “strategic lever to encourage innovation and local production”, which could be weakened in the finance bill for 2026. The movement also intends to “propose more territorialized systems, legible and durable, placing projects in the medium and long term, to offer business leaders a more stable framework favorable to development”. This grouping is reminiscent of the ephemeral “Economic Meeting”, at the end of the 2000s. Base is however less wide, we note, for example, the absence of consular chambers within it. Its founders have not closed the door. The Réunion Import and Trade Union has notably expressed its desire to join the movement, during its annual general meeting on November 4.
