French CECODHAS member, the Union sociale pour l'habitat has called for support in their campaign to maintain the the 'livret A' and 'livret Bleu' system used to finance social housing in France. To support the campaign send a e-mail to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   with your name, organisation and adress.
The ‘livret A’ and the ‘livret bleu’ are tax-free savings products intended to encourage saving and finance social housing. USH insist that the financing of social housing through saving books and thus the special rights entitled to La Poste, Caisse d’Epargne et Crédit Mutuel are necessary since they ensure a stable and regular financing of social housing, which is particularly needed when it comes to implementing policy measures aiming at building 500 000 housing units in 5 years and at promoting urban regeneration on a large scale. This system implies no need for an extra state guarantee and low risk for local authorities.

The European COmmission has called for an elimination of these rights arguing that they represent an infringement of the Treaty by raising obstacles to the freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services. Union sociale pour l'habitat believes that  these rights are fully compatible with the provisions of the Treaty, and  that  they  are  justified  both  for the overriding reason of general interest,  given  the  failure of the housing market to satisfy all housing needs  in  France,  and  as  a  necessary  means  of imposing public policy obligations on banking operators.