Economist Gilbert Ce appointed head of the Pension Orientation Council

Last week, the executive announced the end of Mr. Bras' mandate. “It is not a sanction” but “consistent timing” after nine years of presidency, assured Matignon.

Several unions have, on the contrary, denounced an eviction, linked to the positions taken by Pierre-Louis Bras and the latest COR reports during the months of protest over the pension reform, which contradicted government forecasts.

As early as January 2023, he attracted the wrath of the government by declaring to the National Assembly that “pension spending is not slipping”.

The executive has always justified its reform, including the postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64, by the need to restore the finances of the system. In June, after new post-reform forecasts, the COR was this time accused of "exaggerating" future deficits.

This body of 41 people (parliamentarians, representatives of employers and unions, members of major administrations and experts) is attached to Matignon but works independently. It is responsible for “analyzing and monitoring the medium and long term perspectives” of the retirement system.

Born in 1956 and doctor in economics, Gilbert Ce teaches at the Neoma business school and the University of Aix-Marseille. Former member of the Economic Analysis Council, he is now deputy to the general director of studies and international relations of the Banque de France, and president since 2017 of the group of experts on the minimum wage, responsible for submitting a report each year in government.

“Dubious about the future of the COR”

In April 2017, during the presidential election, he signed a platform with around forty other economists in support of Emmanuel Macron. He has since spoken out several times in the press, in particular to support the pension reform which he judged, for example, in the daily Les Echos in January, "fairly balanced" and able to "ensure the sustainability of the regime ".

"The appointment of Gilbert This is clearly to show up and punish someone who is an independent, capable of saying what he thought (...), to replace him with a good little Macronist soldier, under orders, who will bring the COR into line,” said CGT representative Denis Gravouil, responsible for social protection and pensions, on Tuesday.

“Until now, Gilbert This has not demonstrated any form of independence or intellectual honesty in relation to government positions,” lamented the trade unionist. For him, “as in the Assembly with its extensive recourse to 49.3, the government silences critical voices”.

For Force Ouvrière, the confederal secretary in charge of pensions Michel Beaugas said he was “doubtful about the future of the COR and its independence”. “But we give him the benefit of the doubt and welcome him to his new role. FO will be attentive,” he told AFP.

The president of the CFTC, Cyril Chabanier, said he hoped that the new president of the COR would be "a little more open" to the unions' proposals than within the group of experts on the minimum wage that he chaired. “Every year, we were told that a boost to the minimum wage was not possible.”

“We will judge him by his actions”, reacted the deputy secretary general of Unsa Dominique Corona.

“We want the COR to remain autonomous and independent, a space where we can debate, beyond political pressures,” he continued. Before warning: “If there were to be a change in doctrine, it would jeopardize all the high councils that we know.”