The Court of auditors points out the social action of the funds for supplementary pension for employees in a report to the vitriol.

The pension plans do not collect contributions and pay pensions, a portion of their budget is dedicated to social action. Agirc-Arrco, which manages the pensions of employees, devoted to him and about 400 million euros per year.

How the regime conducts its social missions, which have benefited approximately one million people in 2017 ? In its annual report on public finances, the Court of auditors looks for the first time on the issue. And his verdict is severe. Lack of consistency and transparency, management fees, rates, retrievals vain about contributions : it draws ball of red on the practices of the Agirc-Arrco and its pension funds.

retirees left behind ?

A lack of consistency and overall vision, this is the main criticism of this report. The social action of the Agirc-Arrco and of its funds is “scattered” and does not respond to an “overall plan”, say the authors.

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In 2014, the social partners, who copilotent the Agirc-Arrco (1), have set out four priority areas for action, which should focus 80% of the funding : ageing well, the loss of autonomy, the return to employment of the most fragile and the assistance to carers. But “this basket is in addition aid to vacation, education, relocation, health care, etc,” the report notes. Which says that in the end, 80 % of the population is now potentially is a beneficiary of the social assistance of the Agirc-Arrco.

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Very critical of this enlargement strategy, the sages of the rue Cambon advocate a refocusing on retirees. Objective : to prevent the risk of dilution related to the multitude of interventions and let other players” better armed and more legitimate” to act with other people. It points, in particular the finger at the “modest results” of the Spaces employment Agirc-Arrco “in a field where already act job center and the Association for employment of executives.

They also note with regret the absence of an overall approach to evaluation of social action, as well as the lack of coordination with other social actors that are the departments, funds for family allowances and other pension plans.

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punctures too high

Also in the crosshairs : the cost of management. “In spite of the efforts made in recent years,” they remain “excessive”, in relation to the support provided”.

the Other problem is that the levies made on the contributions of the employees of the system to finance social assistance are too heavy. Of course, they do not account for “only” 0.6% of contributions collected by the scheme in 2017 (350 million over 62 billion euros), but a part is taken for nothing. The social fund has allocated 330 million surplus from 2012 to 2017, which came to feed on the financial reserves amounting to 1.3 billion. Excessive, importance to the Court, which advocates reducing “strongly” the retrievals performed on the contributions to finance social assistance, and proceed to a “new capping very significant reservations.” In other words : paying back for the benefit of the reserves of pension operations.

A deficit of control, fairness, transparency

What about the fairness of the system ? Here, too, the Sages of the rue Cambon are dubious. They emphasize in particular, that the social aid of the Agirc-Arrco are the subject of information to the beneficiaries unequal according to social welfare groups which are attached to pension funds (AG2R La Mondiale, Malakoff-Médéric-Humanis, Klésia…), and that they benefit above all from a well-informed public.

She further notes that these groups often keep in their communication, to specify that they act for the Agirc-Arrco (with the contributions of the employees…), which can to serve their image and their business.

The report further claims that the federation Agirc-Arrco not enough to control and regulate the social actions of its funds, which is detrimental to the coherence of the system and may lead to some financial abuses.

Agirc-Arrco defends its choice

All of these critics go wrong with social partners, managers of the caisses. In a joint response (2), they defend their method. The Court criticized a widening insufficiently targeted in their action ? They see rather the proof of their ability to adapt to the needs of the society that has evolved. They emphasize in particular that 38 % of job seekers are now living under the poverty line, compared with 7 % of the retired. Also help the active is also, according to them, an integral part of the mission of the plan which is aimed at both employed and pensioners.

They justify certain management costs by their choice of “a direct relationship with the citizens” of the Agirc-Arrco, which leads to support in-house a large part of the evaluation of the situation of asylum individual aid, without sub-process.

What is the future in a universal system ?

Then come to open negotiations over the management of the Agirc-Arrco for the coming four years, the remarks of the Court of accounts should not languish at the bottom of a drawer. The time is once again in search of savings for the plan.

If the 330 million euro of the surplus generated between 2012 and 2017 by the social fund-maligned weigh little compared to the 78 billion euros of pensions Agirc-Arrco annual, they are all the same more than the expected benefit of the new system of bonus-malus in 2020 (300 million)… And account for nearly 60 % of the deficit in 2017 of the Agirc-Arrco (569 million).

conclusions anything but tender to the Court raise the question of the future of features of social assistance schemes in the future pension system universal. The harmonisation of the calculation of pensions will have its counterpart in terms of social welfare ? The subject “has not been yet addressed in the consultations with the social partners and is currently not on the agenda of these consultations”, but it “will of course be dealt with in the universal system of retirement,” says the team’s high commissioner to the pension reform.

(1) Three types of actions are carried out : individual aid, paid to affiliates in difficulties, the financing collective (grants to associations, long-term care Facility, etc) and the actions shared (sites, services, Spaces, employment, prevention centres “ageing Well”, telephone service orientation are most fragile in their steps, etc).

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(2) The response of a dozen pages, appended to the report, is signed by the presidents of the boards of the Agirc and the Arrco (because it pre-dates the merger of the Agirc-Arrco January 1), associations summit AG2R La Mondiale and the group Klésia, and the president of the group Humanis.