Édouard Philippe proposes a postponement of the retirement age to 65 and 45 years of contributions

He had been expected to turn the corner for years on the subject of pensions. Edouard Philippe, Horizons candidate in the presidential election, proposed, Tuesday September 29, a gradual extension of the contribution period to 45 years and the starting age to 65 years, an age measure from which "one in three French people" will nevertheless escape. The former prime minister assures that his reform will be “responsible for all and fair for everyone”. But "we have to make the right decisions before the (financial) crisis arrives", he pleads in a video of around twenty minutes, in which he reaffirms his desire to put in place a "capitalization component".

“To regain the balance of our pay-as-you-go system, I propose gradually increasing the contribution period to 45 years and the starting age to 65 for French people who can,” he explains. “We are going to resume the 2023 reform [which had been suspended in 2025] which placed the legal age of departure and retirement at 64 years instead of 62 and 9 months today and which placed the contribution period at 43 years instead of 42.5 today. Then, we will continue so that in less than 10 years, we have gone to 65 years for the legal age of departure, and 45 annuities", details the mayor of Le Havre.

But "a fair rule" must "take into account the lives to which it applies", specifies Edouard Philippe, citing "those women and men who started working very young, or who carry out difficult jobs, or whose body no longer keeps up because the work has worn them out". “This is why, in the reform that I suppose, one in three French people will be able to leave before the age of 65, between 60 and 64.”

The former Prime Minister knows he is eagerly awaited on this issue, while he is presented by his adversaries as the man of "retirement at 67" since an interview in 2021 in which he mentioned raising the retirement age to "65, 66, 67 years". His announcement comes against a backdrop of rising fuel prices and as the government prepares to unveil its budget copy. The 2027 presidential candidates present their proposals on pensions as they go along. Bruno Retailleau, would establish a minimum retirement age of 63, full retirement age at 65 and capitalization “for young people”.

For his reform, Edouard Philippe specifies that "the retirement age of people in poor health will not change. It will remain at 55 years for people with disabilities, at 60 years for people with permanent incapacity and at 62 years for these people with disabilities. (...) And the long career schemes will continue to allow early departures for those who started working early depending on their career path". He also proposes to "complete" the pay-as-you-go system, "which must remain the basis of our system", "with a capitalization component".