Pension reform is one of the hottest topics in the coming months. On Wednesday, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, kicked off the “consultation” on pension reform. The former Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, invites himself into the debate. In an interview at Parisian published Saturday, October 8, he pleads again for a postponement of the starting age, to 65 or even 67 years.
“I have always said that I considered that it was necessary to move on the retreats, to move a lot”he said, recalling having spoken last year “a postponement of the legal age to 65, 66 or 67 years”. “My goal is not to plead for the harshest solution in order to annoy the world”assures the boss of the Horizons party, which forms the right wing of the majority.
“All the countries of the European Union are faced with the same aging of their populations as we are. Whether they are Liberals, Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, they have all chosen the solution of postponing the retirement age.he underlines again, citing the examples of Germany and Italy which “have chosen 67 years”. “I don’t know by what miracle of the mind we could be in a situation radically different from that of our neighbours”adds the one who had himself tried to carry out a pension reform, before it was interrupted by the Covid.
Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise
Following a promise from his re-election campaign, Emmanuel Macron affirmed his intention to quickly carry out a pension reform, for application from the summer of 2023, with a gradual shift in the retirement age to 65. “If you are 65 and it works, it suits me very well”assure M. Philippe. “And if we leave later, we must improve the system by introducing more justice, and of course taking into account long careers”he continues.
According to Mr. Philippe, expressing his concern about “a significant deficit and growing public spending”, a pension reform is one of the avenues that should make it possible to limit France’s indebtedness. In this perspective, Mr. Philippe observes that the executive has set “a 3% return [du PIB] deficit around 2027”. “We are the only country to set this course. The others have a 2025 objective”he notes.
“We always spend more without our fellow citizens feeling that things are going much better”further supports Mr. Philippe, calling in particular for a review of the housing policy which, according to him, is “has become largely inefficient and therefore far too expensive for what you get from it”.
Asked about migration policy, the former Prime Minister believes that establishing « quotas par professions » seems to him “perfectly conceivable”. “We need skills, to bring in people. Even with an unemployment rate of 7%, it is difficult to recruit in certain areas”he argues.