In an agreement which will be ratified this week, the social partners managed to agree on a 4,9% increase in supplementary pensions, while refusing to take between 1 and 3 billion euros per year from the coffers of the 'Agirc-Arcco.
The Ministry of Labor plans to drain the system via the social security financing bill (PLFSS), arguing new revenues brought by the pension reform, which would amount to 22 billion euros over 15 years, and of the good financial health of Agirc-Arrco, whose reserves amount to 68 billion euros.
“This is the money of employees in the private sector, dedicated to their supplementary pensions, managed by trade union and employer organizations, so the State has no say in this part,” estimated on France 2 the number one of the CFDT Marylise Léon.
“It would be extremely serious,” warned her CGT counterpart Sophie Binet, speaking on this subject of “a red line”, a few days before the social conference on wages on October 16.
“New expenditure”
On the employer side, Medef negotiator Diane Milleron-Deperrois was delighted that “despite pressure from the executive during this negotiation, the social partners continued to move forward together”. “If the government persists, it should bear responsibility,” she warned.
The social partners have nevertheless planned in the Agirc-Arcco agreement to create a working group with a view to future "solidarity" measures which could concern small pensions.
But the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt criticizes the social partners for having incurred "new expenses" which "jeopardize the balance of the pension reform" and the "credibility of public finances".
“We are all in the same boat, we have to collectively assume our public deficit, which is agreed with all public administrations. Agirc-Arcco like Unédic must assume this budgetary responsibility,” says Renaissance MP Marc Ferracci , recalling that the use of this scheme was planned "explicitly" in a document submitted to the social partners ahead of the pension reform.
Unemployment insurance has a debt which amounted to 2022 billion euros in 60,7, but is now generating surpluses thanks to the drop in unemployment and the dynamism of the job market.
While the employers would like to devote this windfall to reducing the debt of Unédic and the unions to see the conditions of compensation for the unemployed improve, the government announced at the beginning of August in its framework letter that the surpluses will be used to finance the policy "in favoring the development of skills and employment.
Additional load
The drain will be two billion euros from 2023, then amounts between 2,5 and 4 billion until 2026.
According to Unédic, this levy will force it to “assume an additional financial burden of nearly 800 million euros over the period to finance” the service of its debt. “This revenue drain project (...), even though negotiations are underway, is unacceptable,” criticized the social partners.
Unions and employers also consider the government's economic trajectory to be "objectively questionable". The executive is counting on a drop in unemployment from 7% to 5%, while most institutes predict a stabilization around 7%, or even a deterioration of the job market.
Whatever the scenario, "hitting the box" of Agirc-Arcco and Unédic "is not the best way to do things", believes Eric Heyer, director of the Analysis and Forecasts department of the OFCE.
This economist pleads for letting "the social partners manage in an equitable manner", with the State then being able to "recover the fruits of this good management" via additional income tax and VAT revenue.