Macron proposes raising retirement to 64 years and the unions call a strike instantly

The French Government of Emmanuel Macron has proposed this Tuesday to progressively raise the minimum retirement age from the current 62 years to 64 years in 2030, within a broad pension reform plan.

The plan also includes an acceleration in the increase in the contribution time necessary to enjoy a full retirement: up to 43 years will be necessary from 2027. And it is also expected that the minimum pension will rise to almost 1,200 euros net per month from this year for a full listing period.

The objective of the reform is the “balance” of the systemsince “the contributions of active (workers) need to finance the pensions of retirees,” said the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borneat the press conference in which he presented the Executive’s plan.

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Just a few minutes later, French unions announced a day of interprofessional strike and demonstrations for next January 19in defense of pensions “Nothing justifies such a brutal reform,” said Laurent Berger, leader of the French Confederation of Workers (CFDT), when appearing before the press along with other union leaders in statements collected by the agency efe.

The objective of the workers’ organizations will be, in the words of Berger, that this reform “does not enter into force” and that the “Government backs down.” The mobilization of the 19th will be, they anticipate, only the “beginning” of the measures of force decided upon by all the unions.

From 65 to 64

According to the Macron government’s proposal, the retirement age will rise from September 1 by three months, with similar increases each year until it reaches 64 years in 2024.

The Executive had previously studied the possibility of 65 years, but chose to set the minimum age at 64 years to facilitate a parliamentary agreement with the conservative party Los Republicanos.

Excluding certain professions considered especially painful, the duration of the contribution to be able to enjoy a 100% retirement will be 43 years worked from 2027, and not from 2035.

Likewise, this reform will contemplate the possibility of having the right to early retirement between the ages of 58 and 62 for those who have started to work formally before the age of 20.

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“In 2030, when the legal retirement age is already 64, someone who started working before the age of 16 (usually as an apprentice) will be able to receive their pension at age 58,” Borne exemplified.

The head of the Government announced that This reform “will eliminate most of the special contribution regimes”more advantageous than the general system and used on many occasions by public sector companies.

For Borne, raising the retirement age is “an essential choice to defend the (French) social model and maintain solidarity between the different generations.”

tackle the deficit

“The deficit is going to grow year after year, letting it grow would be irresponsible, just as being carried away by demagogic measures would be even more so,” said Borne, who recalled that other EU countries have also lengthened the retirement age, as is the case of Spain.

That deficit would reach 13.5 billion euros in 2030, but With the planned change, an additional income of 17,700 million will be generated for that yearassured for his part the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire.

The additional 4,200 million will be used to complete the pensions of those who cannot reach 64 years of age due to physical problems and those who perform drudgery jobs, he added.

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Anticipating the fierce opposition to this reform, both in Parliament and on the street -with protests already planned by left-wing parties and unions-, Borne was willing to “confront ideas, but without stirring up fear and misinformation”. .

The two main opposition parties, the far-right Agrupación Nacional (RN) and the leftist Francia Insumisa (LFI), were quick to censor the reform in their respective messages on social networks.

The far-right Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate in 2012, 2017 and 2022, called it “unfair” and assured that he will try to block it, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the LFI, considered that the extension of the minimum age for retirement represents “a serious social regression”.