Soon to retire at age 65? The minister in charge of the reform, Agnès Buzyn, there is “not hostile”… but the government remains mute.

Clumsiness or political manoeuvre? Has the general surprise, the minister of Health and Solidarity Agnès Buzyn said on Sunday not to be “hostile” to retirement at age 65. “I’m a doctor, I see that the duration of life is increasing year by year, she explained on RTL. Is it that while the number of assets decreases, we will be able to indefinitely hold on [them] the weight of retirees who will increase in number and duration?”

[update. On 19 march, when questions of the members of the government, Agnès Buzyn, has assured that”any modification of the minimum age of retirement” was “being considered”.]

This is not the first time that Agnès Buzyn sets foot in the dish, the sensitive retreats. Last July, while Jean-Paul Delevoye, high commissioner in charge of preparing the reform, if égosillait for several weeks to defuse the controversy over the survivors ‘ pensions, the minister of Health had suggested that in the future, only the women who have not worked there would have the right.

“A red line not to cross”

This time, she ventured on land the most explosive yet, even as the maintenance of the minimum age starting at 62 years is a campaign promise of Emmanuel Macron. The trade unions have not been slow to protest. The CFDT has held, in a press release, “to remind the government of the commitments made and to highlight the importance of confidence that is necessary to complete the ongoing dialogue and reform”. Depending on the plant, the report constitutes “a red line not to be crossed”.

the prime minister has not yet expressed on the subject, but the teams of the high commissioner for the reform attempt to extinguish the controversy emerging. “No, Jean-Paul Delevoye is not on the promise,” all that the maintenance of 62 years “has been recognised in the framework of the consultation with the social partners and supervised by the government on 10 October”, when the latter presented the main lines of the reform, pounds-t-on in the entourage of the high commissioner, who said he is “surprised” by the statements made by Agnès Buzyn. This is not the method Delevoye to perform ads in the media, it promotes dialogue, emphasizes his team.

Woerth and Bertrand for the 65-year

Two figures of the right have, in recent weeks, called for a deferral to age 65, the minimum age of retirement, the former Budget minister and chairman of the Finance committee of the national Assembly Eric Woerth (The Republicans), at the beginning of march, and then, last week, the president of the region of the Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand.

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If Agnès Buzyn has, until now, little news on the reform, it is his ministry that has inherited the record and, unless the ministerial reshuffle, it will, therefore, have the responsibility of bringing the bill and defend it in Parliament. His point of view as “personal” on the decline of age-weigh-t-il ? Emmanuel Macron is also favorable ? His response on RTL : “The president has made a commitment to the French, we will see, because the pension reform does not in place immediately, ( … ), we’ll see if reform it be possibly to propose a prolongation of the duration of the work.”

trade-Offs in June ?

The’lengthening of the duration of work” is not the only instrument traditionally used to reduce the age average workforce of departure, the one to whom the pensions are actually taken.

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To counter the financial impact of the decline in the ratio between the number of contributors and pensioners (1.7 today, it should reach 1.3 2070) on the accounts of the system, the contribution period required to receive a pension at the full rate (number of quarters) has already been regularly extended. If no new reform was carried out, the Council of orientation of the retirements (NRC) estimates that the average age of departure, the 61.8 years for the 1955 cohort, will increase over time to stabilize slightly below 64 years of age from generations born at the end of the 1970s”.

The catch is that the contribution period would only come into account in the calculation of the pension based on the points system in preparation. Employees might be tempted to leave earlier than today. Other settings will probably be set up to avoid that older people do not consider the minimum age as the “age of retirement”. A device of premium – the bonus granted to those who leave it later – for example, is the study. A correction coefficient taking into account the demographic changes could also be decided to maintain the accounts in balance. The idea would be to apply, in the calculation of the pension, a reduction in the event of a deterioration of the ratio contributors/pensioners.

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When these topics will they be sliced ? The presentation of the reform is still expected after the european elections, thus, a priori, in June, for a vote by the end of 2019. And no postponement envisaged for the time being. On RTL on Sunday, Agnès Buzyn has repeated that it wished to stick to the schedule.