Serious face, small brown eyes and dark gray hair… Beneath his appearance as a serious and discreet notary, Jean-Jacques Marette is preparing to be at the heart of the political reactor. Officially appointed by the Prime Minister, François Bayrou, this 73-year-old senior civil servant will have the difficult task of leading the “conclave” on pensions lasting three months. This work must take the form of a “consultation” or a “social conference” with the aim of reaching an agreement “at the end of May” between the social partners on the contested pension reform of 2023.
Unsurprisingly, employee and employer representatives are divided. While the unions are up in arms against the extension of the retirement age to 64, the employers’ organizations are lining up behind Emmanuel Macron’s reform. Among the first reactions, that of François Asselin, president of the General Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), who judges the appointment of Jean-Jacques Marette “positive”, at the microphone of Franceinfo. For her part, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, Minister responsible for Labor and Employment, describes him as a “trusted third party”, in a long interview given to West France.
Former director of the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension plans between 1997 and 2015, Jean-Jacques Marette had already been called to the rescue by the former Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, when it was necessary to host the “balance and financing conference pensions” in 2020. “They took the best”, exclaimed at the time a person close to the file to the Figaro. “Édouard Philippe played well because he takes someone unquestionable,” added Philippe Pihet, the retired Mr. at FO, saluting above all his “great moral rectitude” and his “integrity”. At the CFDT, Jean-Louis Malys, former head of the file, praised his “modesty”. Except that Jean-Jacques Marette had been cut short: the Covid-19 pandemic had swept away the conference and the work was ultimately never completed.
A man who leaves his mark
Five years later, the septuagenarian, the same age as François Bayrou, is still recognized as an expert on the subject of pensions, both among trade unions and employers. A way to put both camps at ease during these negotiations which promise to be tough.
Jean-Jacques Marette’s career began at the National School of Administration (ENA), Leonard de Vinci promotion, in the 1970s. Once graduated, he landed the position of general director of the Bayard Prévoyance Association (group of pension and provident institutions) before landing at the head of Arrco in 1997. Jean-Jacques Marette left his mark there by becoming one of the main players in the merger of complementary private sector employees, namely Agirc (executives) and Arrco (non-executives), which has been effective since January 1, 2019.
In 2015, it was up to Jean-Jacques Marette to retire. The opportunity to take advantage of his two grown sons and his wife, a hospital doctor whose father was an RPR deputy for La Manche, reported THE Figaro. Although he is passionate about opera and sailing, there is no question of him abandoning an essential subject that has kept him in suspense for decades. Jean-Jacques Marette offers his expertise to the Retirement Orientation Council (COR), a French organization created in 2000 to study the issue of retirement, where he now sits.
Proof that he never stops, he is leading a mission to set up a single career database, the RGCU (single career management directory), which makes it possible to collect all the information for the same active, regardless of its status. Today, another great challenge awaits him. It remains to be seen whether three months will be enough to achieve the objectives set. Especially since the man hates botching his files.