Question 11380 — foreign policy

Summary

Mr. Christian Girard draws the attention of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to the non-application by Algeria of the provisions of the general Franco-Algerian social security convention of October 1, 1980, particularly with regard to the payment of retirement pensions by Algeria to its nationals who have contributed to the pension fund of their country of origin, but reside in France. According to the Rodwell report, Algeria considers that only migrant workers returning to their country of origin are covered by this convention. It invokes the principle of territoriality of its national legislation to refuse the payment of pensions acquired abroad. As a result, the Algerian National Pension Fund (CNR) refuses to pay their pensions to Algerian and dual nationals living in France, although they fall under the Algerian pension plan. This unilateral interpretation has the concrete effect of depriving resources of thousands of Algerian or Franco-Algerian retirees residing in France, who therefore turn to the French system in order to benefit from non-contributory social benefits, in particular the solidarity allowance for the elderly (ASPA). France has contested for several years this restrictive reading, contrary to the letter and spirit of the convention, but no agreement has yet been reached with the Algerian party. In the meantime, France nevertheless continues to pay the requested replacement services, thus alone bearing the financial consequences of this disruption of balance. This situation appears all the more unbalanced since, according to data from the Center for European and International Social Security Liaisons (CLEISS), France pays nearly a billion euros each year for 361,771 pensions paid to pensioners residing in Algeria, while no reciprocity measure has been implemented in the face of the observed failure of the Algerian side. Also, he asks it to communicate the specific cost for each of the last 10 years of France's assumption of responsibility for the payment of these benefits, as well as the measures envisaged for guarantee the effective application of the bilateral convention, ensure the reciprocity of commitments between the two States, and put an end to a situation which places France in a position of obvious disadvantage, both financially and in terms of social justice.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

1. 2 December 2025

   Question

   Source: DateQuestion

2. 10 February 2026

   Réponse

   La France et l'Algérie retiennent une interprétation divergente du champ d'application personnel de la convention générale de sécurité sociale du 1er octobre 1980. L'Algérie considère que ce dernier ne couvre que les travailleurs migrants retournant dans leur Etat d'origine et ce faisant, qu'il ne fait pas obstacle à l'application du principe de territorialité aux prestations sociales prévues par sa législation. Dans le cadre des réunions de la commission mixte instituée par la convention, la France a relayé, à plusieurs reprises, les contestations des ressortissants algériens et binationaux liées à cette difficulté et demandé à l'Algérie de respecter ses engagements conventionnels. En 2019, la France a sollicité la mise en œuvre du mécanisme de règlement des différends figurant à article 69 de la convention et l'Algérie avait alors consenti à la tenue d'une discussion intergouvernementale afin de régler ce différend. Du fait de la crise du Covid-19, puis des difficultés qu'a connu la relation bilatérale, ce dialogue de haut niveau n'est pas encore intervenu. Aucune commission mixte ne s'est non plus tenue entre la France et l'Algérie depuis 2018. Concernant le montant que représente l'allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées (ASPA) versée aux ressortissants algériens sur les dix dernières années, le Gouvernement ne dispose pas de ces données. En effet, conformément au principe de minimisation (article 5.1 c du RGPD), les organismes de sécurité sociale n'ont le droit de collecter et de traiter que les données strictement nécessaires à l'accomplissement des finalités du traitement. Or, la nationalité n'est pas une donnée discriminante pour identifier les bénéficiaires du versement de prestations sociales.

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• Christian Girard · auteur

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