Retirements: Jean-Pierre Farandou rules out any return at 62

A few weeks before the opening of the budgetary debates, the pensions issue continues to haunt the government agenda. Invited this Sunday on the CNews set, Jean-Pierre Farandou, Minister of Labor and Solidarity, did not mince his words to justify a further postponement of the legal departure age. Asked about the hypothesis of a return to 62 years, defended in particular by the National Rally, the minister was categorical: “I think that we will have to push back the retirement age […] 62 years, it is not possible from a financial point of view.”

A formula which, in fact, closes the door to any idea of ​​going backwards on the 2023 reform, and which confirms that the executive is moving rather towards a further extension of the contribution period or the pivotal age. And for good reason: “We are at the end of a system. We need reforms for retirement, for health and for our aid system,” said Jean-Pierre Farandou, pleading for a global overhaul of the French social model rather than one-off adjustments. The minister, however, refused to advance a specific age, referring the decision to “social partners”.

“We would be better off”

To support his position, the Minister of Labor put things in their historical perspective: in 1945, when the French welfare state was created, employee contributions amounted to 4% compared to 20% today. Same development for employer contributions, which increased from 12 to 40%, recalled the minister, “and you add the CSG”. As for the retirement age set in 1945, i.e. 65 years, the minister made a striking comparison: “65 years old, we would have touched nothing, we would be better off.”

The minister also mentioned the “Work, Employment, Pensions Conference”, which brought together employers and unions for ten months. His final report, he indicated, “will be presented very soon” and should, according to him, contain “very interesting things”. It remains to be seen whether this document will succeed in reaching a sufficiently solid social compromise to support the new reform announced by the government, while the distrust of the French with regard to the subject of pensions remains high.