The Élysée plans to raise the retirement age to 64

Is pension reform coming back?

According to information from Nicolas Barré, the Elysee plans to postpone the retirement age to 64 years.

The subject is on the table.

According to information from Echoes, the Élysée could strike a blow by pushing back the retirement age to 64 in a very short time, even if of course this measure would not come into force until after the presidential election.

This postponement of the retirement age could be submitted to a vote in Parliament as early as October as part of the Social Security financing law.

It would therefore be a very strong political decision.

This explains why it is still debated.

In the majority and within the government itself, there are pros and cons. In the camp against, the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand and many elected En Marche. Among the pros, Bruno Le Maire, Sébastien Lecornu (the Minister of Overseas Territories) but also Alexis Kohler, the Secretary General of the Élysée. Finally Jean Castex is between the two. Such a measure is a priori politically costly but it would have at least three advantages. First, to show that the president is still capable of reform, for which he was elected in 2017. Then, to cut the grass under the foot of a right reinforced by the results of the regional ones. Finally, it is not nothing, to generate savings after a furious period of spending. This would clearly be proof that the president diddo not forget the need to restore public accounts.

Concretely, what is the envisaged reform scenario?

If the president gives the green light, the retirement age would be lowered by six months in six months. The first generation concerned would be the one born in 1961 for which the age of entitlement would rise to 62 and a half years in 2022-2023. And so on for the next three generations, which means that the starting age at 64 would apply to those born in 1964. Of course, there are exemptions and early departures for long careers, and finally the minimum. pension would be revalued to 1,000 euros as expected. Given the state of the accounts of the heavily deficit pension scheme, this reform is justified. Many other countries in Europe have already raised the legal age beyond 64 years. It remains to weigh the political and social risk it entails,the social partners being notoriously hostile to reform in such a tight timeframe.