Macron vs. unions: what is at stake in France’s pension reform?

First modification: 03/07/2023 – 17:19

From Paris to Marseille, passing through Montpellier and smaller cities such as St Lo (Manche), tens of thousands of people mobilize and paralyze activities this Tuesday in France to add spice to the biggest disagreement with President Emmanuel Macron since he came to power. in 2017.

More than a million people had already gathered on January 31, according to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior. His demand: that the bill that is undergoing its legislative course and that intends to modify the pension system be withdrawn. But what is it that bothers the French?

Raising the legal pension age, a ‘necessary evil’ for the Macron government

The unpopular essence of the initiative, which had already failed in the first term of Emmanuel Macron and which became his workhorse in the most recent elections, is to gradually raise the pension age from 62 to 64 years.

In this way, it would be more in line with its peers in the European Union, most of which have pushed their retirement age back to 65 or older.

The law would also abolish privileges enjoyed by some public sector employees, such as those at the Paris Metro, and would see small increases for the lowest pensions.

The unions’ main complaint is that the changes penalize unskilled workers who tend to start their careers early and often struggle in more physically demanding jobs than college graduates.

For the Government, it is the only way to guarantee the financial survival of the state pension system in the long term and that the increasingly reduced generations of young people are not burdened with the responsibility of financing the growing older generations.

Today, the French pension system is based on a solidarity scheme that makes employees contribute to finance the income of retirees.

“I know that few French people want to work two more years, but it is a necessity to preserve our pension system,” said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on the ‘France 5’ channel on Monday night, March 6.

“You have to work more”, the French head of state has repeated insistently to emphasize that, otherwise, the system would collapse and generate a deficit estimated at around 160,000 million dollars for the next decade.

The Government has kept a relatively low profile, leaving the discussion of the project in the hands of the National Assembly, in which the members of the Upper House, where the right is in the majority, expect to vote on Tuesday the article related to the extension of the retirement age.

With AFP, Reuters and AP