Pensions: "nothing is decided" on the entry into force of the reform, says Matignon

Paris (AFP)

The pension reform wanted by Emmanuel Macron could apply from 2025, but "other options" are on the table and "nothing is decided on the duration of the transition period," Reaggnon Thursday.

Faced with a growing challenge, with a threat of "interprofessional strike" on December 5, the government is again trying to clear the debate on pension reform. Edouard Philippe must discuss the subject with parents of students Thursday night in Lons-le-Saulnier.

"The consultation is open and the bill is not written," said the entourage of the Prime Minister, while trade unions and employers are currently consulted on the thorny subject of the transition between the current system and the future "regime universal "promised by the Head of State.

In a working document given to the social partners, High Commissioner Jean-Paul Delevoye recalls his proposal for an "entry into force in 2025", which would amount to "applying the reform, as soon as possible, to the generation born in 1963 ".

But "other options are subject to consultation," he adds, referring to an implementation "from later generations", or only for "new entrants into the labor market".

Some tracks already mentioned, almost word for word, in the report submitted mid-July by Mr. Delevoye to Mr. Philippe.

The prime minister himself insisted on this point in mid-September: "Perhaps the new system will have to apply, for some schemes, only to younger people, more distant from retirement. On that, I have no taboo, "he told the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE).

On the other hand, "the government will not compromise on the main objectives of the reform", namely "a universal system replacing the current 42 regimes, where the rules will be the same for all," says Matignon.

"Everything else is negotiable," insisted Thursday the boss of LREM deputies, Gilles Le Gendre on Radio Classique, defending "a method that will succeed" this reform.

The Republican president, Christian Jacob, on the contrary estimated on RTL that the executive "puts the dust under the carpet" and "announces the reform for the next five years".

For now, it is expected that the consultation, together with a "citizen consultation" launched in parallel, will continue until the end of the year, in view of a vote of the future bill in first reading to the Assembly no later than the end of July 2020.

© 2019 AFP