Economic common sense ends where political tactics begin. This is why our leaders seem incapable of touching the totem of retirement pension indexation. Laurent Wauquiez proved it again this Monday evening. The president of the Republican Right group in the National Assembly announced, at 8 p.m. on TF1, that he had obtained a compromise from Michel Barnier on this explosive subject: there will be an increase in all pensions on January 1, 2025, for an amount corresponding to half of inflation. On July 1, a new boost will this time only concern retirees receiving less than the minimum wage.
A thorough unraveling of the initial ambition. In the Social Security financing bill, the government included a freeze on basic pensions for six months, which promised savings of 4 billion euros. In these times of budgetary diet, sitting on part of this windfall is irresponsible. The executive had a simple and effective means – already proven in the past – to quickly reduce the public deficit. But electoral considerations once again took over.
Shortfall of around a billion euros
The Minister of Public Accounts, Laurent Saint-Martin, estimates the shortfall at nearly a billion euros. To counterbalance it, the former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region suggests delving into the administrative maquis by attacking these “hundred or so organizations which have developed, whose budgets have exploded”. A goal that is certainly laudable, but very uncertain. In any case, it will require serious consideration of the issue and will therefore take time. And the government doesn’t have that.