After weeks of procrastination, decisions were made on the thorny issue of Agirc-Arrco surpluses. The executive has decided to “favor social dialogue”, explain those close to the Prime Minister. The Minister of Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, took note of this decision before the deputies on Tuesday afternoon, within the framework of the PLFSS examination.
For this reason, the Government will ask the social partners to resume the debate to co-finance the minimum pension and thus participate in the financing of the pension reform. If they accept, then the State will not take in complementary pension funds. The Government has set “the moment for the parliamentary shuttle” to obtain “rapid and concrete progress.”
However, if they refuse, the government leaves the threat looming. The possibility of returning to the matter, by means of amendment, is reserved when the social security financing bill is again submitted to second reading or, at the latest, in next year’s PLFSS if the discussions fail.
In fact, the government is very clear on one point. Whatever happens, their intention is to recover the savings achieved thanks to the pension reform. For Agirc-Arcco, this savings amounts, according to the executive, to 400 million euros next year, 800 million in 2025 and 1,200 million in 2026.
The ball is now in the court of the social partners. Let us remember that two of the three employers’ organizations, the U2P and the CPME, were willing from the beginning to participate in the financing of the minimum pension and, furthermore, they refused to sign the agreement.
Finally, all the social partners had foreseen, as part of their agreement, the creation of a working group. Therefore, the government is only accelerating these discussions. “We will think about it, it is good that the Government renounces an authoritarian tax. It is up to everyone to take a step,” reacts an official from Fuerza Obrera interviewed by BFM Business. A way for everyone to emerge victorious from this debate.
Source: BFM TV
