Pensions: the government does not want to give up "the grandfather clause"

Alexis Delafontaine, with AFP 7:16 p.m., March 01, 2023

The government wants to abolish special diets but only for future hires, government spokesman Olivier Véran recalled on Wednesday, while LR senators want this "grandfather clause" to be abolished.

"We do not change the rules of the game along the way and therefore we remove the special diets (...) but we do it with balance, that is to say with a gradual entry into the device", indicated Olivier Véran on BFMTV and RMC.

The end of special diets only for new hires

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The government's plan provides for the cessation of special schemes only for new hires from September 1, 2023. The employees concerned (electricity and gas industries, RATP, Banque de France, etc.) already in office retain their benefits, in accordance with reform.

But several voices on the right want this "grandfather clause" to be deleted.

"We would like us not to wait 43 years for the abolition of these special regimes", noted in Le Parisien the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau, without however making it a "red line" in the discussions of his group. with the government.

The opposition cries out for manipulation

The pension reform crossed Tuesday, without incident, the course of the commission in the Senate.

The version amended by the senators, mainly on the right, notably provides for provisions in favor of mothers and the employment of seniors.

The senators will meet on Thursday afternoon for the kick-off of the debates in the hemicycle.

Olivier Véran also returned to the clarification provided the day before by Olivier Dussopt to the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj.

The Minister of Labor estimates that the number of new retirees crossing the threshold of 1,200 euros by the sole fact of the increase in minimum pensions will ultimately amount to "between 10,000 and 20,000 people".

The opposition cries out for manipulation, recalling that Olivier Dussopt had initially mentioned "40,000" retirees concerned.

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A complicated reform to explain

"40,000 is the real number of retirees who leave today with less than 1,200 euros and who will leave next year with more than 1,200 euros", detailed Olivier Véran.

The figure of 10,000 to 20,000 "is directly linked to the impact of the reform on the minimum pension, the rest (around 20,000 people, Editor's note) is because we have generally increased retirement pensions to index them to inflation," the spokesperson added.

"It's a reform that is extremely complicated to explain and there is a lot of hubbub around it," said Olivier Véran to justify the changes in the figures given by his colleague.