- In an interview with the regional press on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron confirmed that there would be "no abandonment" of his project for a universal pension reform system, and that the extension of working hours was still of actuality.
- Surprised by the announcement, the social partners fear to put the subject back on the carpet from this summer given the sensitivity of the subject.
- The more so as the trade unions as the employers' organizations are more occupied by the current situation of the economy and employment.
Pension reform against all odds. Emmanuel Macron never ceases to surprise as for his determination to resume discussions on this particularly delicate subject. "There will be no abandonment," he confirmed in an interview published by the regional press on Thursday evening, before starting, this Friday morning, the reshuffle of the government with the departure of Edouard Philippe, replaced by Jean Castex.
And no question of hanging around. Emmanuel Macron will ask the government to "quickly re-engage in-depth consultation, in a dialogue of responsibility associating the social partners from the summer on this aspect of financial balances", he underlined.
The social partners are however dismayed at this idea, wrung out of endless consultations. The start of pension reform started more than two years ago, and it has already shown them all the colors, with the record strikes this winter. "We risk reopening tension, a social conflict," warned Europe 1 the secretary general of Force Ouvrière, Yves Veyrier, who has opposed the reform from the start.
A redesign launched in the summer, which “doesn't smell good”
Given the context linked to the coronavirus, it is finally joined by the allied reform unions, who dispute the timing and are therefore not ready to put a coin back in the machine for the moment. "We can continue to discuss the principle [of pension reform] and see when it could apply, but especially not this summer and especially not from the perspective of the overall balance of the pension system" , reacts this Friday morning the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, on France Inter. "The priority is employment", recalls the trade unionist, especially concerned about the "successive" social plans and the layoffs in SMEs which have already started.
“We know very well that when we make reforms in the summer, it doesn't smell good. [Emmanuel Macron] no longer talks about the pivotal age but about working longer, ”fears Pascale Coton, vice-president of the CFTC. Now that the funding of pensions is under more pressure because of the crisis, which could widen the deficit to 30 billion euros this year, the unionist refuses simple age measures, fearing that the expected progress of the reform initial, especially vis-à-vis women, do not go to the trap. "The debate on increasing working hours would be a red line," warned Laurent Berger on France Inter.
Still unclear intentions
Union side as employer, it is unclear on the real intentions of Emmanuel Macron. "In the expression of the President of the Republic, it is not clear," said Jean-Eudes du Mesnil du Buisson, secretary general of the CPME. We are waiting to have details on the timing and the object. Is it a question of securing the resources of the pension system in the short term or of tipping over into a profound change in the pension system? "
In his interview, Emmanuel Macron always makes ends meet. Abandoning the reform "would be a mistake for two reasons," he said. The first is that the universal pension system is fair. We have all seen during this crisis what is called the second line, the delivery men, the cashiers ... All of that France is the France losing out from the current pension system. […] The second subject is that of financial balances […] This reform cannot be resumed unchanged at the end of the crisis, but the question of the number of years during which we contribute remains posed ”, a explained the President of the Republic.
Everything except strikes
If the employers' organizations are favorable to the age measures in order to ensure the financial equilibrium of the pension system, they are on the contrary wary of the presidential will to advance on the point system, a complex reform which does not did not convince them.
But even on the first subject, a funding conference in the summer would be too premature for the CPME. "We do not know the extent of the deterioration of the deficit," said Jean-Eudes of Mesnil du Buisson, who is also waiting to see the turn that will take the economic recovery. "It is very difficult to think about a projection without at the same time knowing the evolution of employment," he explains.
He is also worried about the risk of social flare-up that a hastily restored pension reform could cause. "Let us at all costs avoid falling back into social conflicts," warns the secretary general. He believes that the small and medium-sized enterprises represented by CPME have already had enough of it so far. With the "yellow vests", the strikes, and now the Covid ...
Economy
Suspended during confinement, pension reform is back
Economy
Coronavirus: An 8% rebound in the French economy envisaged by Bercy for next year
- Economic crisis
- Emmanuel Macron
- Pension reform
- Economy