Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented the details of a long-awaited pension reform on Tuesday, revealing an increase in the legal retirement age despite trade union pushback that will test government stability over the coming weeks.
Pension reform has been the source of significant social tensions and unrest ever since talks of increasing the legal retirement age arose in the early 1990s.
Things are just as tense this time, and the government is preparing for battle as Borne unveiled the details of the new bill on Tuesday.
The reform will see the legal retirement age go from 62 to 64 by 2030, starting 1 September 2023. Retirees will continue to benefit from a full pension from 67 years of age.
“This reform is there to ensure the financial stability of the pensions system” over the long run, Borne told journalists, claiming the bill is one of “justice, financial stability and social progress”.
The pensions watchdog had found in a report last September that the medium-term stability of the system was at threat.
Through such a reform, France mirrors many of its EU counterparts: the legal retirement age nears an average of 65 across the bloc.
Specific policy changes are enshrined in the new bill, following several rounds of negotiations with business associations and trade unions, which specifically focus on the most at-risk. The minimum pension income for the poorest segment of workers will be increased to €1,200; that is, 85% of the national minimum wage.
More will also be done to retain senior workers in the labour force: “France has one of the lowest old-age employment rates in Europe”, Borne said, calling out companies that proactively show old people the door before they reach the legal retirement age. A “seniors index” will be created to track how good businesses are at retaining older staff members.
2021 figures from the French statistical body Dares found 56% of the 55-64 work, unlike a 60% average in the EU. Numbers fall drastically after the 60-year mark, however, at 35.5%. 8.6% work between the ages of 64 and 69.
Macron’s pension reform plans gets right-wing backing
Right-wing party Les Républicains confirmed it will back the much-delayed pension reform promised by President Emmanuel Macron, meaning that after months of uncertainty, it could now be passed with a parliamentary majority.
The pension reform bill, among Macron’s key campaign promises, …
Can Macron make it through untethered?
Macron made this reform a campaign promise in 2022, but the economic context has changed radically.
Inflation is at its highest, hitting 5.9% in December 2022 year on year – while food prices have increased a stark 12.9% in the same period. Energy prices have gone up 15.1%.
Macron initially announced retirement age would be raised to 65, but he had to soften his stance in light of the expected backlash.
“I say to the PM: be very careful. There are such heavy social tensions; there is so much angst and negativity” over the reform, centre-left CFDT union leader Laurent Berger said. Some 79% of French people are against an increase in the legal retirement age, a poll found on Saturday (7 January).
Ultimately, all trade unions, even the more reformist of the lot, announced they would take to the streets on 19 January in a rare show of unity. “Nothing justifies such a brutal reform”, they wrote in a joint statement published shortly after the announcement.
Political leaders, such as radical-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, also backed the unions, speaking of “social regression”. President of the radical-left La France Insoumise parliamentary group Mathilde Panot told journalists earlier today it marked the start of a “social war”.
“Macron wants a clash and hopes that unions will struggle to mobilise”, a senior trade unionist told EURACTIV.
Pension reforms have more often than not, spiralled into significant social upheavals over the years. As early as 1995, a reform targeted towards civil servants’ pensions put the country to a virtual standstill for over three weeks, before the government withdrew its most controversial measures.
Similarly, in 2019, Macron tried to enact a points-based reform, which had workers take to the streets in numbers. The bill was eventually shelved as the pandemic hit.
The government received explicit support from the leader of the right-wing Les Républicains party on Sunday (8 January) – giving Macron’s Renaissance party the simple majority it needs at the National Assembly for a vote. The extent and strength of unions’ pushbacks will be closely scrutinised by the government.
The bill will be presented formally on 23 January, before parliamentary debates kick off in early February.
They will be limited to 20 days sharp, adding fuel to the opposition’s fire that the government intends to “stifle” debates, tweeted radical-left MP Manuel Bompard.
Nine EU countries need pension reform
Nine EU countries have not explicitly committed to pension reforms in their recovery and resilience plans despite Commission recommendations on the matter from the 2019 European Semester, according to Commission documents and declarations made to EURACTIV.
In 2019, during the European …
(Theo Bourgery-Gonse | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
