The former pension conclave has its new roadmap

"We needed a frame of reference, and that's it, we have it," declared Yvan Ricordeau, the CFDT negotiator, as the four-page "objectives note" was distributed to the press.

"This doesn't take away from the difficulty of the upcoming discussion," he immediately added. "Now we need to put some substance and substance into it to make it happen; that's the goal for the next two months," he said.

The "objectives note" provides for "negotiations on changes to the pension system until the summer."

The negotiators agree that "restoring balance to the system is a necessity" and will allow themselves to "reexamine the financing of social protection more broadly."

They will seek to agree on "a steering mechanism" to manage the pension system in the future, and will look for "ways of progress" to take into account professional wear and tear, equality between men and women", without "distracting attention" from the effective retirement age "which is the main issue of our system".

Three other organisations - Medef, CPME and CFE-CGC - confirmed that they had agreed to the objective note, but the CFTC expressed its reservations about the way in which its four partners wanted to direct the work.

The CFTC opposes including the financing of social protection in general in the discussion, explained its negotiator, Pascale Coton. "It is not legitimate to invent a second conclave," she explained.

The CFTC will decide on Wednesday whether to "leave the conclave" or "leave it when we discuss social protection" as a whole, she explained.

The CGT and FO have already left the ship for several weeks, as has the employers' organization U2P (artisans).

Thursday's meeting was also marked by the presentation of the Court of Auditors' second report to the social partners by its president, Pierre Moscovici.

Each of the organisations saw this as validation of their concerns, with employers welcoming the Court's support for increasing the employment rate, and unions highlighting a lack of fairness in the system, particularly for women and senior citizens in difficulty (unemployment, illness, disability).

The schedule agreed by the five organizations provides for the next two weekly Thursday meetings (April 17 and 24) to be devoted to financing issues, and the two following sessions (April 30 and May 15) to the issue of system management.

The partners would then enter the final stretch to finalize an agreement before May 28, the date of the last scheduled meeting.

The social partners do not rule out continuing into June if necessary.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.