PARIS. The pension reform promised by President Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign that brought him to the Elysée for a second time in 2022 aims to restore the financial balance of the current regime by sharing it with a deficit of around 13 billion in 2020. Here’s what it predicts the text of the law:
PROGRESSIVE INCREASE FROM 62 TO 64 YEARS
It is the heart of the reform, as well as the provision most contested by unions and the opposition, the so-called article 7, which provides for the progressive increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years (against the 65 initially estimated). The two-year increase is accompanied by an acceleration in the rate of contributions required to qualify for full-rate treatment. This duration will gradually be increased to 43 years between now and 2027, instead of 2035, as envisaged by the previous Touraine reform of 2014. Specifically, to receive a full pension, workers born on or after 1 September 1961 must have paid 42 years and three months of contributions in the course of their professional life against the current 42 years.
READ ALSO | Paris, the assault on pensions: demonstrations and clashes, the opposition besieges Macron on the most hated reform
NO SPECIAL REGIMES
The reform marks the end of the so-called ‘special’ pension schemes enjoyed by the employees of some large transalpine groups, such as the energy giant Edf, Ratp (the company that manages public transport in Paris), the Bank of France, the members of the Economic and Social Council (EESC). The reform will only affect new hires, as foreseen by the so-called ‘grandparent clause’.
DEVICE FOR ‘LONG-COURSE CAREERS’
It is another symbolic measure of the reform, which allows those who started working early to retire early. For example, those who started working between the ages of 20 and 21 will be able to apply for a pension a year earlier, at the age of 63.
INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM PENSION TO 1,200 EUROS
The law provides for an increase in the minimum wage of at least 85% of the French net minimum wage, or around 1,200 euros gross from 1 September. The measure concerns employees, artisans and farmers. For weeks, however, the executive was unable to say how many people could take advantage of this measure, causing bitter controversy. At the beginning of March, the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, acknowledged that just 20,000 new retirees will be able to benefit, half of what the minister himself said the previous month.
SENIOR CONTRACTS
Experimental provision valid until 2026 which provides for exemption from contributions for every employer who hires employees over 60 on fixed-term contracts. The pension reform, which many in Paris consider much less ambitious than the ‘systemic’ one presented by Macron in the previous mandate and then sunk in the face of street protests and the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, also provides for specific measures for strenuous jobs and for some workers with children.