Presentation made by Fabienne Colignon, France, at the 16th Annual OECD Accruals Symposium held at the OECD Conference Centre, Paris, on 21-22 March 2016.

1. Social Benefits
and related issues
16th annual OECD public sector accruals symposium
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Fabienne Colignon, CNoCP
22 March 2016
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2. Sommaire
 “Répartition” mechanisms in France
 Our main concern with the social benefits project
 “Répartition” and employer/civil servants relationship
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3. “Répartition” mechanisms in France
(a) Compulsory membership to the scheme, root to the contributory and to the non-contractual
natures of the scheme;
(b) Contributions amounts not fully computed in relation to the risk profile. This is a key
difference with private insurance schemes;
(c) No direct relationship between the contributions paid and the social benefits received;
(d) Contributions received in a period serve benefits due in the same period;
(e) Periodic revision of the overall balance of the schemes; and
(f) Adjustments to maintain the balance generally enacted by law annually.
It should be noted that in the context of the “répartition” mechanism in France, the use of
the English word “scheme” may imply the existence of a contractual binding arrangement;
conversely, “scheme” refers in this document to a mechanism enforced by law.
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4. Our main concern with the
social benefits project
The accounting for the service of future benefits
 “Répartition” mechanism
 Annual law that provides for a level of contributions to cover payments of benefits in the period
 Legislative requirement rather than contractual obligation
 No constructive obligation
=> No present legal or constructive obligation to serve future benefits
 A way forward: provision of information
 The international context led us to consider providing information
 Main question: is it information to be included in the notes to the FS’s elements (i.e.) or to be
provided in a sustainability report?
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5. “Répartition” and employer/civil servants
relationship
 “Répartition” mechanisms also exist in the employer/civil servants relationship
 Relationship between employer and civil servants in the public sector is statutory
 Contributions by the employer come from general taxation
 Tax payers and civil servants bear the risk
 In a nutshell: “répartition” and statutory schemes akin to social security schemes vs contractual
and funded plans
 Work in progress with a view to respond to the ED59 consultation
=> No present legal or constructive obligation to serve future benefits
 Work in progress as to the information that we believe should be provided
 Nature
 Relevant level of aggregation of entities that impacts thinking on how to group entities
 Location
 Frequency
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