Dominated by the right, the Senate puts pressure on the government. He voted, Saturday, November 12, a pension reform providing for the raising of the legal age to 64, against the opinion of the government which favors consultation with a view to its own reform in early 2023.
This is not a first. Since 2017, the senatorial majority has systematically slipped into each Social Security budget a provision to bring the pension system back into balance.
This is “a chestnut tree”, agreed the rapporteur for the old age branch René-Paul Savary (LR). His amendment to the draft Social Security budget, providing for the reform mechanism, was adopted by 195 votes for, 130 against and 19 abstentions. The extension of the working time would apply from January 1, 2024, in the event of failure of the discussions for a reform.
A national convention
The senatorial majority proposes, as a first step, the setting up of a « convention nationale » responsible for formulating measures for a return to balance, while taking into account hardship, disability, long careers and the employment of seniors. It would bring together the State, the social partners, family and pensioner associations, as well as experts, with a view to drafting a bill.
This agreement should formulate proposals to bring the pension system back into balance by 2033, but also propose solutions for keeping seniors in employment. It’s a ” prerequisite to any reform, believes the Senate’s Social Affairs Committee.
The 1967 generation, the first concerned
If a consensus was not found, the legal postponement of the retirement age to 64 years to receive a full pension would concern the generation born in 1967. The Senate amendment also provides for an acceleration of the Touraine reform, by requiring 43 years of contributions to obtain a full pension from the generation of 1967, and no longer 1973.
These two measures represent nearly 16.5 billion euros in new revenue for the old age branch in 2030, estimates the report by René-Paul Savary. According to the social security financing bill, the deficit would be 13.6 billion euros in 2026.
A political message
Unsurprisingly, the left denounced the text. It’s a ” reform of an incredible injustice “, estimated the socialist senator Monique Lubin. For his part, the Minister of Solidarity, Jean-Christophe Combe acknowledged that the executive and the senatorial majority were coming together ” on the objectives and themes raised. But “we opted for consultation and a bill in January, not a measure in a social security financing bill”he explained.
The senatorial majority says, for its part, that it wants to send a political message on the urgency of redressing the accounts, while being without illusions about the outcome of its amendment. The government will have the possibility of withdrawing these provisions, following the parliamentary shuttle.