This is a first legislative success for the Macron government, after almost two months of protests in the streets and a chaotic parliamentary course: the Senate finally voted on Saturday evening March 11 to adopt the pension reform bill. It was voted 195 votes in favor and 112 against by the right-wing majority chamber.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne welcomed this to AFP, saying she was convinced that “there is a majority” to adopt the reform. On the left, the socialist senator Monique Lubin castigated a “brutal” reform, and a “dark day for all the employees of this country”. “Finally, here we are!” exclaimed the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau, specifying nevertheless to vote “for the reform, but we are not voting for Emmanuel Macron”. This will be dissected next week in the Joint Joint Committee (CMP) and will again have to be voted on by the Senate and by the Assembly – with an uncertain majority and the unleashed opposition – before it can be definitively adopted.
During the first reading, the National Assembly was unable to comment on the text due to an avalanche of Amendments tabled by the opposition. Thanks to a debate process accelerated by article 44.3 of the Constitution which makes it possible to ignore the amendments to which the government is unfavorable, the Senate was able to vote for the bill. Here are the main measures.
Departure age and calculation of contributions
This was the heart of the debates. The bill passed by the Senate raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, which the senatorial right had long favored. The period of contribution to benefit from a full pension will also be increased to 43 years from 2027. For those who have not been able to contribute for 43 years, the full retirement age remains at 67 years.
Several relaxations have nevertheless been conceded. The “long career” system has been approved, which will allow workers who started working early not to work for more than 44 years. The conditions for buying back quarters of contributions justified by the pursuit of studies or the completion of internships have been relaxed, and professors have gained the possibility of retiring during the year, which they were for the moment refused. .
Several measures to better support seniors
While the French will work older, the senators voted, against the advice of the government, the creation of a “CDI senior” supposed to promote the recruitment of older employees. It will exempt employers of people over 60 from family contributions, which could cost the State more than 800 million euros.
The text already planned to impose a “senior index” on companies. From November 2023, it will oblige companies with at least 1,000 employees, then from July 2024 companies with at least 300 employees, to publish “monitoring indicators” on the policy carried out to hire and maintain in activity the sixties. . The senators have extended this publication obligation to companies with at least 50 employees from July 1, 2025.
End of special schemes, increase in the minimum pension
The main special regimes are abolished as of September 1, 2023. The latter traditionally benefited from more favorable provisions than the general regime for certain public or private sectors, such as for the gas and electricity industries, the RATP, the notariat, as well as many officials. In return, the minimum retirement pension has also been increased. It is now set at 1,200 euros gross, ie 85% of the net minimum wage for a full career contributing full-time to the minimum wage.
Consideration of hardship and caregiver status
The bill plans to better take into account the arduousness, by recognizing “poly-exposures” as well as night work. To answer this question, the government has pushed for the creation of an “investment fund” dedicated to professional wear and tear, which will be endowed with one billion euros. These employees will benefit from reinforced medical monitoring and early departure from age 62, if necessary. The professional branches will then have to negotiate “agreements for the prevention of professional wear and tear for trades identified as difficult by the Social Security authorities”, specified the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt.
The senators also created a special status for “caregivers”, who interrupt their professional activity to take care of a loved one in difficulty. With this new system of “old-age insurance”, they will be able to benefit from a “validation of quarters” so as not to be penalized in the calculation of their pension.
Creation of a premium for mothers
For mothers, the upper house has created a “surcharge” of up to 5% of the retirement pension. The premium will in fact be 1.25% per quarter for women who exceed the 43 required annuities, under the effect of the maternity and child-rearing quarters, with a ceiling set at 5%. A measure that goes “in the right direction” according to Olivier Dussopt. It is estimated at 300 million euros.