A large-scale pensions reform announced during Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign, which seeks to increase the minimum retirement age to 64 or 65, has enraged trade unions who warn that social unrest is just around the corner.
The reform is intended to recalibrate pensions spendings, which is expected to reach a deficit in the next 25 years, a report from the French pensions watchdog found in 2022. The government claims that raising the minimum retirement age is one way to ensure the entire system does not run out of cash.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne met with social partners on Tuesday and will meet with them again on Wednesday before tabling the reform bill next Tuesday (10 January). The date was pushed back from 15 December in light of discontent and the need for further consultations.
France is one of the few EU member states that has not raised the retirement age, with most EU countries having a statutory retirement age of 65 years. Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands have a retirement age of 66 years, while Italy’s is 67.
In their report, the pensions’ watchdog warned that there would be an “average deficit” in the pensions system up to 2032. What happens next isn’t clear, however: from 2032 to 2070, “despite the progressive ageing of the French population, the share of pension spendings to GDP should be stable or decrease.”
Raising the age has thus become the government’s favoured option, ahead of the medium-term financial risks – though uncertainty remains on whether the threshold would be set at 64 or 65 years.
Fury in the air
This has left trade unions angry and insisting that the reform is unfair. They stress that it is set to hit low-qualified workers the hardest, who will be required to work longer before they can retire. They also claim the government is just trying to save public finance on the back of workers.
“The government is obsessed with raising the retirement age,” CFTC trade union President Cyril Chabanier told EURACTIV, adding that it has turned a blind eye to any other financing options.
The most prevalent alternative solution among unions is to raise the amount companies have to pay into the general pensions pot. According to Chabanier, a €4-to-€5 increase could end the deficit altogether. “But the private sector claims this will increase unemployment rates, and so the government refuses to act.”
Taking to the streets
Unusually, all trade unions say they are ready to fight if the bill goes ahead.
“Macron wants a clash and hopes that unions will struggle to mobilise – pensions reform is no sexy topic,” a union official told EURACTIV on condition of anonymity, insisting that there will be a fight.
There is no other option but to “prepare for conflict,” which the government has fuelled, François Hommeril, president of the reformist CFE/CGC trade union, told EURACTIV. He said people were “more motivated than ever.”
The same is true of Chabanier, who, unlike his most radical counterparts, sees taking to the streets as an option of last resort: “we’re getting ready.”
This comes amid a tense social backdrop: a heavily-criticised unemployment reform is due to see the light of day in February, while inflation has reached an all-time high. Meanwhile, 72% of French people have purchasing power as their primary concern, according to a poll, and 53% of them believe pension reform should not be a government priority.
(Theo Bourgery | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
