The French prime minister has hailed small steps of progress at his pensions ‘conclave’ – including one change which has particular significance for foreigners who have worked in France for part of their career.
On Thursday, after four months of discussions between the government, employers and moderate unions broke up, France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou extended – again – the deadline to mid-July to allow agreement on sticking points.
There has been no big breakthrough on the issue that has convulsed French politics since 2019, but a few small but important details have been agreed.
“Contrary to what has been said and written, the work of this conclave has been remarkably useful,” Bayrou told journalists.
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“Having taken stock of the steps forward and having spoken with each of the organisations, I am impressed by the progress that has been made in four months.”
Government spokesperson Sophie Primas told BFM TV: “No agreement is signed, but we are moving forward … The Prime Minister is right not to give up, to continue to believe in social dialogue.”
So, what was agreed?
Retirement age
As a reminder, this Conclave is about pensions, specifically Emmanuel Macron’s highly controversial pension reform that – among other things – raised the French pension age from 62 to 64.
On the age issue, nothing changes.
Perhaps the key point was that those around the table – some unions, for example, refused to participate – “accepted the principle of returning to balance in 2030” and “not to question the age conditions set by the 2023 law”, Bayrou said.
That means the retirement age will go up, as planned, to 64. The change is already being phased in for people who retire over the next few years.
So what was agreed?
There were, however, important breakthroughs on other issues including pensions for mothers, for those who have taken career breaks and for foreigners working in France.
Conclave has agreed to “improve the situation of people, especially those who have had interrupted careers, more often women”.
Progress was made to “significantly and immediately improve” the pension rights of women who have had children.
“Instead of using the 25 best years to calculate retirement pensions, women who have had one child will gain one year, with the reference figure reduced to 24 years,” Bayrou said.
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“Those who have had two or more children, they will gain two years, with the reference reduced to 23 years. In addition, an agreement was reached on “early retirement for long careers, thereby gaining two quarters of maternity leave”.
There was also a deal reached on people who have taken career breaks or who have not worked a full career in France.
Bayrou announced a compromise had been reached to reduce the retirement age at full pay from 67 to 66-and-a-half.
This potentially affects foreigners who have ‘blended careers’ – ie they have worked some years in France and some years in another country, and plan to retire in France.
Because French pensions are based on contributions, those who have not worked a full career in France will get a lower pension (although they likely likely also be entitled to a pension from other countries they have worked in) – however the ‘full pension age’ means that people with an incomplete French career can either retire at 64 on a lower rate, or can continue working until they are 67 (now 66 1/2) and benefit from a higher amount.
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If you check out your French pension via the info-retrait site, you will see your estimated monthly pension amount based on whether you retire at 64, or at 67. For those who only worked for part of their career in France, the figure for retiring at 67 is significantly higher.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: The website to help you calculate your French pension✎
‘Arduous’ jobs
Unions want employees in arduous or dangerous jobs for a long time to be able to retire early, regardless of their health, but employers want to make early retirement conditional on the establishment of incapacity by a doctor.
Bayrou insisted compromise was “within reach”, and said negotiations would continue in the coming days.
What next?
Talks will continue but in the immediate future are two no-confidence votes on the prime minister over this issue, deposed by Parti Socialiste. It’s not thought that these will succeed.
READ ALSO OPINION: Another week, another attempt to bring down the French government
The head of government also announced “a legislative approach” in the autumn to “answer all the questions raised” and, in the absence of agreement on the most delicate points, said he was ready to include “compromise provisions” in the next Social Security budget.
France’s largest union, the CFDT, however, has refused to enter the ongoing talks. “We do not want any new negotiation sessions,” Secretary General Marylise Léon told AFP.
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She said that the two final sticking points identified by François Bayrou in reaching an agreement with employers, on arduous work and the overall financing of the system, were “two extremely important and structuring elements of the discussions.”
Bayrou – in Briançon – fired back, saying that if unions and employers step down from negotiations, “we will decide”.
He said the next Social Security budget would include “a text, whether there has been a prior agreement or whether there has only been preparatory work for an agreement”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
