The pension reform contemplates the controversial extension of the minimum retirement age of 62 to 64 years. The deficit of the pension system was Macron’s main argument.
The French president has vowed to press ahead with the bill, which aims to raise the minimum retirement age by 2030, despite mass demonstrations and strikes across the country, as opinion polls consistently show that most French people are opposed to the change.
The workers’ unions and youth organizations pledged to “paralyze France” during the next protest, scheduled for next Tuesday.
The two-week discussion in the National Assembly last month featured fiery tempers and thousands of amendments proposed mainly by the left-wing opposition, making it impossible for lawmakers to scrutinize the entire bill.
In the Senate, which is dominated by members of the Republican party, the legislation is expected to meet with a more positive reception. Conservative senators lobbied for years to raise the minimum retirement age.
Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt argued that France’s pension system would have a deficit within 10 years “if we do nothing”according to the newspapers Le Figaro and Le Parisien.
Macron made the review of the pension system a priority of his second term. Dussopt described the legislation under consideration as “a promise kept” by the president.
Conservative senators propose an amendment to give a 5% pension bonus to working mothers. Government officials said they were open to discussion about including such a measure.
The Republican senators also support the creation of a special contract to encourage companies to keep or hire older workers near retirement, in exchange for paying less taxes.
What does the pension reform project consist of?
“With a legal retirement age of 64 years from 2030 and 43 years of contribution, we will achieve the objective: our redistributive will then reach equilibrium“, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, pondered at a press conference weeks ago.
In France, active workers pay the pensions of retirees, whose percentage is increasing compared to the former as life expectancy increases: 85.5 years for women and 79.4 for men.
In addition to the delay of the age to 64 years, the Government also plans to advance to 2027 the requirement of having 43 years of contributions to collect a full pensioninstead of 2035, as stipulated in a Law approved in 2014 by the socialist Francois Hollande.
The debate is scheduled to last until the end of next week. If the bill passes the Senate, it will make its way through France’s complex legislative process.
A committee made up of lawmakers from both houses of parliament will seek a possible agreement on a joint version of the text, which will eventually be presented for approval in the National Assembly and then in the Senate at the end of the month.
Macron’s centrist alliance has the most seats in the National Assembly, but lost a majority in legislative elections last year. Therefore, he needs to have the support of the right to be able to pass the bill.
Source: Ambito
