95

Having long been busy legislating on the right to social security and the various reforms that have affected its branches, legislators, since the constitutional reform of 1996, have to vote on the social security financing act. This change marked an extension of their remit and is partly explained by the rising share of fiscal resources to compensate for lower social security contributions. This raises ques-tions as to the limits of their prerogatives as it is the executive branch preparing this law, although often Parliament will make substantial changes despite having somewhat limited powers of amendment. Legislators are at the forefront when it comes to supporting the development of social protection, as seen recently with the creation of universal protection, since from now on access to health coverage will be based solely on the criterion of six months of lawful residency.