The heads of the biggest unions will meet later today to discuss how they will react to the proposed plan
French people will have to work two more years to retire, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced today, unveiling unpopular pension reform that will test President Emmanuel Macron’s ability to bring about change.
The French government will push through a bill that would raise the retirement age to 64 from the current 62 by 2030.
According to a poll by Odoxa, four out of five French people oppose the change, at a time when many are already facing a cost-of-living crisis.
“I am well aware that the change of the pension system raises questions and fears among the French,” Bourne said at the press conference she gave. He added that the government will try to convince citizens that the reform is necessary. “Today we are proposing a plan to balance the pension, a fair plan,” he said.
That change was a mainstay of Macron’s reform agenda when he was elected president in 2017. But the first attempt was stalled in 2020 as the government struggled to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The second attempt is not expected to be any easier.
The heads of the biggest unions will meet later today to discuss how they will react to the proposed plan, possibly by organizing demonstrations and strikes.
The president and prime minister will also have to pass the reform through parliament, where they do not have an absolute majority. Today, this looks less difficult than it was a few weeks ago, after the government made some concessions to the Conservative Republicans (LR). Even so, Republicans are not united on this issue, and every vote will count.
With one of the lowest retirement ages among industrialized nations, France spends more on pensions than almost any other country, about 14 percent of its economic output, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
According to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, the French government estimates that it will benefit from this reform by 17.7 billion euros by 2030. Lemaire’s statement came shortly after the prime minister presented her proposal, which would see the retirement age rise gradually, by three months each year, until it reaches 64.
APE-MBE, Reuters, Bloomberg
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