“If Emmanuel Macron wants to make the mother of all reforms, he will be the mother of all battles for us,” summarized the secretary general of the Forca Obrera, Frédéric Souillot, even before the French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, officially announced the proposal for the social security reform that the president has been calling for for years. Among other measures, the controversial increase in the retirement age from the current 62 to 64 is planned for 2030, by an additional three months a year from September 1. To be entitled to the full pension, it will still be necessary, from 2027, and not from 2035 as planned, that the employee has received a discount for 43 years.
“To present such a project is always a moment of truth. It is a political choice”Borne said at the press conference. The changes aim to ensure the “balance” of the social security system by 2030, the prime minister said, guaranteeing that it is “a realistic observation” to say that this balance is currently not assured.
The government considers the change “urgent” and reckons that if nothing is done, there will be a deficit of €13.5 billion in the system by 2030. On the contrary, with this reform, the social security fund will have 17.7 billion euros more than a year ago.
The unions are totally opposed to these changes, with the main eight deciding to schedule the first day of general mobilization for January 19. More than two-thirds of French people (68%) oppose raising the retirement age, according to a poll by France’s Institute of Public Opinion. Combining this proposal with the general discontent and pessimism of a year expected to be full of economic crisis and inflation, there are fears of a new wave of violent protests like the 2018 “yellow vests” or simply the chaos of strikes , as in 2019 .
During his first term in office, Macron had projects for a complete reform of the social security system, aiming to replace the various points-based regimes with a single regime and raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. But after a wave of protests, which began in December 2019, lasted until February 2020 and included the longest transportation strike in half a century, the president finally dropped the law and hitched a ride on the pandemic.
In his 2022 candidacy for re-election, Macron made it clear that pension reform would be a second-term goal, initially predicting that the retirement age would rise to 65 – like other European neighbours, although some are already on their way to 67 (in Portugal is that 66 years and 4 months). But the president admitted to only going to 64, hoping to get the necessary votes from “the Republicans” to pass the bill in the National Assembly (where he doesn’t have a majority).
The right, which also faced protests on the streets during the government to make changes to pensions (it was during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency that the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62), has defended that it should be raised precisely going to age 64. years. In the Senate they have been voting in this direction for five years. This does not mean that there is no resistance on the part of the Republicans to the proposals presented by the Prime Minister yesterday.
In addition to the changes already mentioned, the cabinet wants to end most of the special regimes, intended for some sectors, and will ask employers for an additional contribution (by reducing the premium for the occupational disease system, which has a surplus). An increase in pensions is also planned for those who had careers with full discounts, to 85% of the minimum wage, which is close to the 1200 euros that the Republicans had asked for (a measure that affects about two million people). And you don’t get retirement at 67, no cuts, for everyone, no matter how long you’ve worked.
Resistance will be greater from the left, which advocates lowering the retirement age to 60, or from the extreme right, which wants the retirement age to remain at 62. The strategy of “A França Insubmissa, the largest party of the left-wing alliance NUPES, includes the presentation of” 75 thousand amendments “. Jean Luc-Mélenchon, the leader of the party, called the proposal a “serious social setback”. Marine Le Pen said the French can count on “all the determination” of the National Assembly to “block this unjust reform”.
The project will be discussed in the Council of Ministers on January 23 and will be discussed in the National Assembly on January 30. Debates will start on February 6. To avoid their prolongation over time, as well as the expected protests, the French government will be able to resort to Article 49.3 of the Constitution – an exceptional regime that allows the adoption of the law without the approval of the delegates.
Source: DN
