This is the next logical step: after the debates in Parliament and the examination of the text by the Elders of the Constitutional Council, the pension reform is about to come into force. Before the institution on rue de Montpensier made its long-awaited decision, this Friday, April 14, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, had already assured, during his interview with the 1 p.m. news from TF1, that the reform would be implemented “by the end of the year”.
From now on, even if the Elders have decided to censor a few “social riders” on the grounds that they had no place in a bill for the amending financing of Social Security (PLFRSS) – in particular the senior index -, the timetable for the implementation of the reform is becoming clearer. Who will be affected and from when? Response elements.
As announced by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne during her press conference on January 10, the reform will concern, from September 1, 2023, French people born between September 1 and December 31, 1961. Given that the text provides for a gradual postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old – at the rate of three additional months per year -, the latter will be the first to be impacted. They will therefore be able to leave at 62 years and three months, having contributed one more quarter: 169, against 168 before the reform. The same principle applies to French people born after 1961 so that the legal age of departure is finally set, in 2030, at 64 years old. The first to leave at this age are those born from 1968. In detail, here is what it looks like:
While the text also provides for an acceleration of the Touraine reform of 2013 – the contribution period necessary to have a “full rate” pension will increase from 42 to 43 years by 2027, at the rate of one quarter per year -, the reform also introduces new intermediate levels for long careers.
It is one of the six provisions censored by the Constitutional Council. It was planned that this index, which should promote the employment of seniors, would be compulsory from November 2023 for companies with more than 1,000 employees, the obligation being set for July 2024 for companies whose workforce is between 300 and 1,000 employees. But due to the decision of the Constitutional Council, these deadlines may be postponed. Another timetable for the application of the senior index could be specified in a law on full employment that the government plans to present in the coming weeks if it, of course, is included.
This is, in principle, how the reform will be phased in from 1 September 2023. But is it achievable in practice? Questioned by LCI, the boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, expressed serious doubts. “It’s going to be a real mess because the infrastructure isn’t there!” he estimated. On the contrary, pension funds ensure that their teams are fully mobilized. Thus, the National Old Age Insurance Fund (Cnav) indicated before the decision of the Elders to our colleagues from Figaro that “operational work can begin as soon as the law is promulgated”. The soap opera around the pension reform is probably not over!
