Pushing back the retirement age again? The option that angers unions

Although it is not due to be formally adopted until next Thursday by the members of the Pensions Advisory Council (COR), the annual report of this body attached to Matignon has already not gone unnoticed - accused of being "biased" according to the CGT or even of attempting to "bias the work" of the "conclave" on pensions scheduled until June 17.

In this report, consulted Friday by AFP, the COR, chaired by economist Gilbert Cette, revised downwards the expected deficit for 2030 (6.6 billion euros) but upwards the long-term deficit (2070). It mainly evaluates four avenues for rebalancing the system.

The document describes the first three measures - moderating the growth of net pensions, increasing employee pension contributions, increasing employer pension contributions - as "recessionary" and appears to encourage the fourth option: "a rise in the retirement age that allows for an increase in employment rates."

"To structurally balance the pension system each year until 2070 through the sole lever of the retirement age, it would be necessary to raise this age to 64.3 years in 2030, 65.9 years in 2045 and 66.5 years in 2070," he writes. This would go beyond the 64 years introduced by the 2023 reform, adopted with great difficulty by Elisabeth Borne's government despite massive protests in the streets.

"Mission commissioned"

For the CGT, Gilbert Cette has "stepped out of his role".

"There's a scandal in the fact that only one recommendation has been targeted. Until now, the COR has made assumptions and left it to politicians to decide. Now, it's completely biased," its representative, Denis Gravouil, in charge of social protection and pensions, blasted to AFP.

"Gilbert Cette is on a mission ordered by Emmanuel Macron," the union representative criticizes, noting that this "preliminary report" was leaked the day after the symbolic vote by MPs on a resolution to repeal the 2023 reform.

"The COR only exists through the opinions of its council; it meets on Thursday. So there is no guidance on pensions currently available at the COR level? Unless it wants to electrify or distort the work of the current conclave, which is unacceptable," grumbled Yvan Ricordeau, deputy general secretary of the CFDT.

"It's Gilbert Cette, with his neoliberal perspective and his obsession with the public deficit," reacted Michel Beaugas, confederal secretary of FO, in Le Monde.

"Unilateral hypothesis"

Gilbert Cette, a supporter of Mr. Macron during the 2017 presidential election, was appointed in October 2023, succeeding Pierre-Louis Bras. The latter had been heavily criticized by the executive, stating that "pension spending is not getting out of hand." His replacement had been denounced by the unions.

A recent report from the Court of Auditors showed that raising the legal age "was financially effective in the very short term, over the first two or three years, but that the effect was quite weak in the medium to long term," Cyril Chabanier, for the CFTC, recalled on FranceInfo on Friday, mentioning "other levers" to "pull."

"For the first time, we have a report that only retains one unilateral hypothesis, that of Gilbert Cette. The other hypotheses are not presented," added Eric Coquerel, LFI president of the Finance Committee in the Assembly, on the same radio station.

The report comes as negotiations between the five remaining social partners to rediscuss the 2023 reform, the "conclave" desired by the Prime Minister, are entering a difficult phase.

One of the main points of contention is precisely the issue of age, which the unions want to see re-examined. FO and CGT had slammed the door on the process at the beginning, as had the U2P on the employers' side. Two plenary meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday before a final meeting on June 17.