Following the agreement reached between unions and employers on the management of complementary private pensions (Agirc-Arrco), the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, criticized them on Thursday for “new expenses” that “jeopardize the balance of the reform” of pensions and the “credibility of public finances”.
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, after five weeks of negotiations, the employers’ and union organizations that co-manage Agirc-Arrco reached an agreement on the four-year management of this complementary fund for former private sector employees. Profitant des surpluses du régime, ils ont notamment décidé de revaloriser les pensions complémentaires de 4.9% au 1er novembre – à hauteur de l’inflation – et de supprimer le “malus” de 10% qui incitait les salaries à décaler leur départ d ‘one year. They also introduced, based on the general system model, the possibility for retirees who combine employment and retirement to slightly improve their pensions.
They also remained firm on one point: their total refusal to organize a “financial channel” to the State, which demands between 1,000 and 3,000 million euros annually until 2030 to help finance the increase in small pensions foreseen by the pension reform. pensions. and the “return to balance” of the pension system in general.
A boost for small pensions
The joint negotiation “continues the pension reform, necessary for the sustainability of the pension system”, recalls Olivier Dussopt in a reaction sent to the press. “In this context, the State has highlighted the importance of guaranteeing that the financial effects of the reform allow achieving balance in the pension system by 2030.” “The reform will generate 1.2 billion surpluses for Agirc-Arrco until 2026. This effect of the reform was not intended for new expenses,” he judges.
“However, in their agreement, the social partners decided on new expenses, financed with the returns from the pension reform, and did not define a solidarity mechanism that would allow these returns to be protected. This decision endangers the balance of the reform and the credibility of our public opinion. finances,” says the minister.
In their agreement, the social partners pave the way for a future boost to small pensions, but only aimed at Agirc-Arrco beneficiaries. One article foresees the creation of a “joint working group” to define internal “solidarity measures” before the end of the first half of 2024, without directly mentioning low pensions.
Source: BFM TV
