Seen by our European neighbors, the magnitude of the movement against pension reform arouses astonishment or rather incomprehension, sarcasm, annoyance… or sometimes also a form of envy. A tongue-in-cheek tweet from the Paris correspondent of the British liberal magazine The Economist, Sophie Pedder, sums up this sentiment well. Under the title “Unfortunate France”, it lists the reasons – or not – to lament: a growth rate higher than that of Germany, inflation below the average of the countries of the euro zone, a drop in unemployment in fourth quarter of 2022 at a level not seen since 2011, etc.
It must be said that in Great Britain, recalls the journalist of the Guardian (centre-left) Jon Henley, “about 70% of people’s retirement comes from their own savings, only the remaining third comes from the State. Not only is the minimum pension around 700 euros per month, but it is only touched at age 65… and soon 67 with the next reform underway. The British therefore find it difficult to understand that the French, with their guaranteed pensions, are protesting so much for a decline from 62 to 64 years! It is, it is true, all the difference between our mode by distribution and a system where the funds of pension have the beautiful share.
“With us, the starting age is 67, so…”
Surprise in Italy too. “With us the retirement age is 67, so… Already when I explained during the French presidential campaign that certain candidates were proposing a return to retirement at 60, it seemed lunar,” relates Anais Ginori, correspondent for La Repubblica. (centrist daily).
Seen from Germany, where the retirement age will be raised to 67 by 2027, this standoff, which opposes the government to the street and the unions, has “an air of deja vu in France » and does not occupy the front pages of the media, « focused on Ukraine and the debate on arms deliveries », observes Matthias Krupa, of the daily Die Zeit (centre-left). The journalist is surprised that the arguments for rebalancing an indebted regime (at least in the future) and the demographic imbalance do not “take” with us. “While they were accepted by the Germans, albeit after heated debates and demonstrations, during the reforms of Social Democratic Chancellor Schröder in the early 2000s”.
Like his colleague Anais Ginori, Matthias Krupa notes that what interests the most in the confrontation, “is the impact it will have on the presidency of Emmanuel Macron and on the political and economic stability” of our country.
“There are things that never change”
The fact remains that these comparisons with foreign countries, which ministers and figures from Macronie do not hesitate to send to the sets to defend the reform, have little impact on public opinion. “My experience as a correspondent has taught me that the French do not compare themselves with others,” smiles the Italian journalist. Or, if they compare, it is in relation to an idealized past. »
Our “cultural exception” also arouses ridicule. Like, on the occasion of the first day of mobilization, on January 19, this mid-day bulletin from the very serious English BBC opened by this cruel line from the announcer: “There are things that never change in France: we lose the wars and we go on strike! A piquant remark at a time when the Kingdom itself is paralyzed by massive strikes (transport, health, education, etc.) caused by ten years of unprecedented austerity.