D-Day for the emblematic pension reform

The Prime Minister confirmed during a press conference the arbitration which had been widely leaked in recent days, after a sequence of several months combining consultations, procrastination and surprise report of the announcement.

"I am well aware that changing our pension system raises questions and fears among the French. We want to answer them, and convince" and above all "guarantee the balance of the system in 2030", declared the head of government. .

The left-wing parties, the National Rally and all the trade unions are standing up against a decline in the retirement age.

Meeting at the end of the afternoon at the Bourse du Travail in Paris, the leaders of the eight major unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU) called for a first day of demonstrations and strikes on January 19.

"This reform will hit hard all workers and more particularly those who started working early, the most precarious whose life expectancy is lower than the rest of the population", declared, at the name of the intersyndicale, the boss of the CFDT Laurent Berger, whose executive had once hoped for support.

"We are determined that this reform does not pass" and "we want there to be as many employees as possible on strike" on January 19, added his CGT counterpart, Philippe Martinez.

The boss of Force Ouvrière Frédéric Souillot denounced "the most unfair reform for second-line and most precarious employees".

From September 1, the starting age will be "raised gradually by three months a year to reach 64 years old in 2030. We will therefore be at 63 years and 3 months at the end of the five-year term" in 2027, detailed the Prime Minister . Instead of the 65 years on which Emmanuel Macron had campaigned.

"We will not go further than the 43 years of contributions provided for by the Touraine reform to leave with a full pension. But we will reach this target faster, moving to a rate of one quarter per year", has she elaborated. It will therefore be necessary to have contributed for 43 years from 2027 instead of 2035 for a full pension.

minimum pension

Another flagship measure on which the government is counting to have the reform accepted: the increase to 85% of the net minimum wage, or nearly 1.200 euros currently, of the minimum pension for full careers. A measure extended to current retirees. "Nearly two million small pensions will be increased," said Elisabeth Borne.

The reform also includes a device "adapted" for long careers, "so that no one who started" to work early is forced to work more than 44 years, according to the government.

It "will record the extinction of the main remaining special schemes": "new recruits at the RATP, in the electrical and gas industries branch and at the Banque de France" will in particular be affiliated to the general scheme, said Ms. Borne.

On the arduousness component, “an investment fund in the prevention of professional wear and tear” will be established, endowed with one billion euros over the five-year period.

The government also wants to create an "index" measuring the employment of seniors for companies with more than 1.000 employees "from this year", and for those with more than 300 employees in 2024, which companies will have to provide under penalty of sanctions. . A measure that arouses the hostility of employers.

Elisabeth Borne will provide after-sales service on Tuesday evening on France 2. And the government should include its reform in a draft amending budget for Social Security presented to the Council of Ministers on January 23, before examination in February in the Assembly.

"We are ready to further develop our project, and this will be possible thanks to a loyal and constructive parliamentary debate", underlined the Prime Minister.

"Social Regression"

Political reactions were not long in coming: Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced a "serious social regression". Marine Le Pen assured of her "determination" to "block" an "unjust reform".

The president of the LR deputies Olivier Marleix, on the other hand, was "satisfied to have been heard", on the pace of the reform and the small pensions.

Medef, for its part, hailed "the responsible and pragmatic decisions" of the government.

According to the latest polls, a large majority of French people are opposed to raising the legal age.

If he predicts "a major movement" of the unions, the Renaissance deputy Marc Ferracci, close to Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand displays the determination of power: "We have to show that we will go all the way" .