Final battle for retirement and pensions in France
Opposition and trade unions are already unanimously rejecting it and, as usual in France, this could lead to a new wave of strikes, riots and destruction. At stake this time is the long-delayed reform of the retirement age and pensioners' incomes. Not one of the successive presidents since François Mitterrand has been able to deliver on a reform which, with greater or lesser clarity and presumed firmness, they had promised in their election manifestos. Such was always the angry and violent level of protest that they were always forced to back down.
Emmanuel Macron was also unable to deliver on his promise during his first term in office, when he enjoyed an unusually overwhelming absolute majority. But in his current second term, in which he has already lost that absolute majority in the National Assembly, he considers that the reform cannot be postponed and that it is impossible to continue with the kite of more taxes and more debt to continue financing a system that is considered to be one of the most generous in the world.
Tuesday 10 January is the date set for the presentation for debate of the latest bill, which is intended to be definitive, after having gone through the brush and secured the backing of the conservative Republicans (LR), whose current leader, Eric Ciotti, declared this Sunday to the Journal du Dimanche that he supported it, taking credit for "having mitigated the brutality of the reform" in negotiations with the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne.
Essentially, the change consists of extending the retirement age to 65, currently set at 62. Given the considerable increase in life expectancy, the system's deficit would continue to rise by 10 billion euros if the current conditions were to be maintained, which can only come from squeezing already exhausted taxpayers even further and/or increasing a debt whose red numbers have long since caused the alarm bells to go hoarse.
To mitigate the impact and win the vote of the conservatives, Macron will agree to extend the reform over nine years, at a rate of four months per year to delay the retirement age, which, according to the accounts of the Finance Minister, Gabriel Attal, will already lead to savings of around 8 billion. A no less important point of change would be the introduction at once of a general system that would put an end to the 42 special schemes, no less, that currently apply to pensioners in France.
Likewise, to compensate for the supposed hardship of having to work a few more years, Macron's government intends to increase the amount of the minimum pension, currently at 1,000 euros, which could be increased to 1,100 or 1,200 euros, provided that 43 years of contributions have been paid (42 at present). The situation of those who wish to extend their working life beyond retirement age also remains to be developed, something that many qualified professionals, whose experience and knowledge is also demanded by many sectors of society, are calling for, in exchange, of course, for some kind of compensation.
The two extremes of the parliamentary forces, Rassemblement Nationale (RN) and La France Insoumise (LFI) will oppose the reform head-on, each with their own very different arguments. In the case of the extreme left of LFI, the usual street protest is expected, which if joined by the unions and the usual host of looters who take every opportunity to sow chaos and vandalise private and public property, promises new episodes of violence.
Will Macron resist this time and will the ever-delayed reform ever come into force? This time at least he seems to have a guaranteed majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate. The president has hinted at his determination to make this attempt the definitive one, to the point that his entourage has hinted at the possibility of applying article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the government, under certain conditions, to pass a law without the approval of the two chambers of parliament. An extreme measure, but one that the Elysée is considered essential, even if it has to be taken in the midst of an economic and social crisis.