SPECIAL REGIMES. The abolition of many special schemes is at the heart of the debates on the new pension reform. Which ones are affected? We tell you everything.
[Mis à jour le 19 janvier 2022 à 10h40] The pension reform project will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday, January 23, then examined in the National Assembly, in the process, at the beginning of February. And the special regimes constitute one of the main issues of this much-contested text. Indeed, many of them will simply be deleted. Those of the RATP, the gas industries or even Engie will no longer exist if the reform comes into force before the end of the summer. Be careful however, this abolition of special regimes will only be valid for new hires, this is what is called: the grandfather clause. In other words, employees already in office will retain their benefits. New recruits will be affiliated to the general pension scheme from September 1, 2023.
As a reminder, in France, 15 special regimes exist. They concern in particular the employees of certain large public companies such as the SNCF, the RATP, EDF or even the civil servants of the State and local authorities. Thanks to their special nature, these plans allow contributors to retire earlier than others, often before age 60. The contribution period is also generally shorter.
The special regimes complete the list of Social Security regimes. These schemes are attached to a company, a public institution, or a profession. There are three main categories: the regime of the public function (national police, military), the regimes of businesses and public bodies (EDF, RATP, SNCF). And finally, the special regimes such as those of the Comédie Française, the Paris Opera, the Notary Clerks, or the Banque de France). In France, 15 special schemes exist, which represents 4.7 million contributors. Here is the complete list of special diets:
- The civil servants’ regime
- The regime of the Banque de France
- The RATP system
- The SNCF scheme
- The mining regime
- The regime for staff at the Opéra National de Paris
- The regime of the Comédie Française
- The regime of the Autonomous Port of Bordeaux
- The regime for sailors with the National Establishment of Naval Invalids
- The Regime of Cults
- Regime for Clerks and Notary Employees
- The parliamentary system of the Senate with the independent Social Security fund of the Senate
- The parliamentary system of the National Assembly
- The EDF-GDF scheme for the Electricity and Gas Industries
- The scheme for workers in State industrial establishments and the scheme for local government officials
The majority of special schemes allowing people to leave before the legal retirement age will disappear with the pension reform, from 1 September 2023. RATPthe branches of the gas industries (IEG), them Clerics and employees of notariesthe staff of the Bank of France and members of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) will therefore see their special plans extinguished for new employees. On the other hand, the autonomous schemes which concern lawyers, the schemes for sailors, that of the Paris Opera and the Comédie Française will not be affected by this novelty relating to the pension reform.
Be aware that the shift in the legal retirement age will indeed affect workers in special schemes, in the same way as the extension of the contribution period. On the other hand, civil servants will still be able to benefit from a more advantageous method of calculation. In their case, the calculation of the retirement is established on the last six months of career, and not on the 25 best years.
On September 1, 2023, if the pension reform comes into force, several special schemes will disappear. But in reality, this deletion only concerns new hires. Current employees will retain this famous special regime. This is called: the grandfather clause.