This is one of the flagship measures of the pension reform, the examination of which by the Senate began on Tuesday after its first reading in the National Assembly, the one brandished by the executive to prove the objective of “social justice” of his bill: the promise of a minimum pension of 1,200 euros, or 85% of the net minimum wage.
The perimeter of the boost was the subject of tense exchanges in February at the Palais-Bourbon. Contrary to what the outings of several ministers might suggest, the famous « 1 200 euros »gross, would no longer constitute a « minimum » for all, but only for pensioners who can prove a full career, at full rate, on the basis of a salary equivalent to the minimum wage. But for how many beneficiaries exactly? “Between 10,000 and 20,000 people”, now believes Olivier Dussopt. That is half the number brandished in mid-February by the same Minister of Labor.
Back to a war of numbers. Driven by the leftist opposition, which deplored the ” lies “ of the government and the vagueness maintained on the number of future retirees targeted by the « 1 200 euros »Olivier Dussopt said on February 15 on France Interin full debate in the Assembly, that 40,000 of them, each year, “will pass the milestone of 85% of the minimum wage” if his reform succeeds, in addition to 250,000 who have already retired. An insufficient clarification to silence the doubts expressed from the benches of the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (Nupes).
“Olivier Dussopt admits having inflated the figures”
The day after the government clarification, the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, former inspector general of social affairs, announced that he had gone to the direction of Social Security to “illuminate dark areas”. At the podium, the parliamentarian from Essonne then reported that the State services were not “not originally” of M. Dussopt’s estimate and « ne sav[aient] not themselves” where she came from. There followed a vigorous dialogue between the two former socialist partners, far from concluding their exchanges on the subject.
Tuesday, February 28, Jérôme Guedj thus published on Twitter a letter from Olivier Dussopt, dated February 23, in response to a missive from the parliamentarian camping that“no study or quantified data” did not support the number of « 40 000 » future retirees, per year, beneficiaries of the 1,200 euros.
And the Minister of Labor to seriously revise his assessment downwards. “The services estimate, depending on the generation, that between 10,000 and 20,000 people will cross the threshold of 1,200 euros by this measure alone”writes Olivier Dussopt, referring to “additional costing” forwarded by the Social Security Department. The former deputy of Ardèche also confirms that “250,000 current retirees will exceed the threshold of 85% of the net minimum wage”.
“And so Olivier Dussopt finally admits having inflated the figures”, boasted Jérôme Guedj on the social network. The parliamentarian also considers “abusive” the fact of attributing these revaluations to the sole credit of the reform, and concludes: “We will continue to investigate. »
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