This Wednesday, at the initiative of environmentalists, senators from the left suggested “to start the work» pour «evolve» the autonomous pension scheme for senators. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Environmental senators have tabled a motion for a resolution calling for reform “the pension fund of former senators for more exemplary and transparency”.
Will the senators attack their own pension plan? While the reform proposed by the government arrived this week in the upper house, some elected officials are calling for this issue to be addressed. Ecologists have thus tabled a motion for a resolution pleading for a reform of “the pension fund for former senators for more exemplarity and transparency“. Left-wing senators thus suggest “engage in reflection“, citing the example of the National Assembly which has “aligned its pension plan with common civil service law since January 1, 2018».
For the time being, the text of the executive provides for the abolition of certain special loss-making schemes such as that of the RATP or the Banque de France. But for the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, the Senate system should not be housed in the same boat, it being “autonomousand self-funded. Le Figaro make the point.
Today, the pension plan for senators is managed by the Senate itself. Concretely, according to the accounts of the Senate, 38 million euros were paid to former senators in 2021. Of this sum, 33% is financed by contributions from senators and the Senate, and 67% by “financial assets that have been set up in order to consolidate the medium and long-term balances of the plan“, indicates the site of the Senate. These assets do not come from French taxes but from “excess contributions built up since the plan’s inception in 1905“, explains to Figaro the press service of the upper house.
«The high amount of employee contributions, the small number of pensioners and their use over a short period of pension servicesexplain the significant amount saved, we add. Indeed, senators retire later than the average French person, and therefore have less recourse to their right to retirement than the average French person. Well managed, these savings made it possible to balance the system and thus avoid having to resort to State subsidies: “There is no balance grant, balance subsidy, or financial transfer from outside“, underlines the Senate. Among the 33% of contributions, 21% are employer contributions, as is the case for any scheme where the State is the employer, and are therefore financed by the State. This amount amounts to 8 million euros. However, this does not fall under a subsidy to balance the books.
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Different from a deficit diet
The Senate system is therefore not a deficit fund. By way of comparison, the RATP paid 1.2 billion euros in pensions in 2022, recalls the director general of the pension fund for the staff of the management, Christophe Rolin. This amount is divided between500 million euros in contributions» employer and employees, and780 million that are financed by the State subsidy, in 2022“. It is therefore around 65% of RATP pensions that are financed by French taxes, not counting the share of employer contributions also logically financed by the State.
Similarly, the Banque de France, in major demographic imbalance, has around 7,850 contributors in 2021, for 17,000 pensioners, according to a report by the National Assembly. It also specifies that the institution “poured 546 million euros to its pensioners in 2021, of which 477 million employer contribution [l’État donc, NDLR] to balance the diet“. The Banque de France does not pay employers’ contributions but directly receives a supplement to ensure the balance. It is therefore nearly 90% of its retirement system that would be financed by taxes.
Retirement at age 72 on average
Conversely, the structure of the senatorial system is “balanced» with a positive balance which amounted, at the end of 2020, to around 625 million euros, according to the accounts. What to envy. Today, a senator who has served a term of 6 years is led to receive 2190 euros net pension per month. By way of comparison, a member of the National Assembly, whose plan is subsidized by the State, “touche 684 euros net of pension after 5 years in officeaccording to the Palais Bourbon website. In 2018, MPs aligned their pension scheme with that of the civil service. An elected official can therefore receive his retirement from the age of 62 today, and 64 years old once the new pension reform has been passed. This retirement is proportional to the time spent in the National Assembly, as for a civil servant.
For its part, the regime for senators has already changed several times, in 2003, 2010 and 2014 to achieve a similar retirement age of 62, which will increase to 64 once the reform is passed. In practice, senators actually retire much later, “at 72 years old on average“, Specifies the upper chamber. In addition, left-wing elected officials want “prohibit the fund’s reserves from being invested in fossil fuel projects“. It remains to be seen whether these various points will be validated by their colleagues.