His name has been on everyone’s lips in recent months. It is difficult to miss the Pensions Orientation Council (COR), which has distinguished itself during the recent discussions around the reform. The institution is issuing its long-awaited annual report this Thursday, June 15 in the morning. This opus, of a hundred pages, delivers a financial diagnosis of the pension scheme, and will therefore be the first to take into account the new parameters induced by the reform validated by the Constitutional Council two months ago.
On January 19, 2023, the COR made headlines, not for the quality of its work, but because of the statements of its president Pierre-Louis Bras. Before the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, he declared that “pension expenditure is not slipping, it is relatively under control”. A short sentence that had the gift of annoying the executive, suggesting that the reform was not really necessary. “Everyone gets the scenario they want, it has blurred the tracks”, had in return struck Elisabeth Borne, attacking the work of the COR, which she considers too obscure.
What is his role ?
The institution was designed as a watchtower. It must help the State to define a course in the management of the pension system. “On all pension issues (financial balance, amount of pensions, age and duration of insurance, redistribution, etc.), the COR draws up the elements of a shared diagnosis and formulates, if necessary, proposals for likely to shed light on the choices in terms of pension policy”, one can read on its website.
The results of this work are compiled in a report, which the institution has the obligation to publish each year before June 15. This document presents projections for 2070, and takes into account various scenarios, depending on the evolution of productivity and unemployment. For this year’s event, the COR has announced that it will limit itself to four screenings, compared to eight last year. The so-called “optimistic” scenarios will fall by the wayside. Will remain, in the body of the report, only those which “reflect the current legislation of the system of retirement”, in which the State is satisfied to ensure the financial balance of the special modes and those of the public office.
Who are its members ?
The institution now has 41 members. There are 16 representatives of “social security and employers”, namely the unions and employers’ confederations, such as the CGT, the CDFT, the Medef or the FNSEA. They are accompanied by two representatives of family and retiree associations, as well as nine delegates from the administrations. Among them, the Director General of Administration and the Civil Service, the Director of the Budget and the Director of Social Security.
The COR also has its share of experts, since six “qualified personalities are also part of it”. There are, for example, Monika Queisser, head of the social policy division of the OECD, and Muriel Roger, economist at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Eight parliamentarians – four deputies and four senators – complete the council.
The organization has been headed by senior civil servant Pierre-Louis Bras since January 14, 2015. This general inspector of social affairs is responsible for leading the debates and coordinating the work of the members. Before occupying this position, the man notably toured the ministerial offices, notably passing through those of Claude Evin, Martine Aubry and Jérôme Cahuzac.
How does it work ?
The operation of the COR is regulated like clockwork. Each month, it meets to work on a particular theme. These meetings are prepared in working groups, with members of the institution or representatives.
To operate on a daily basis, the COR can rely on a secretariat of eight people. “The General Secretariat provides leadership, expertise and synthesis: it orders the administrations and pension funds to carry out work to fuel the Board’s reflection, prepares the analysis and summary documents constituting the monthly files , and prepares the draft reports with a view to their adoption”, explains the organization on its website.
Who is responsible for the COR?
As curious as it may seem, the Pensions Orientation Council depends on the services of the Prime Minister. But between the two institutions, the quarrel is real, to the point of casting doubt on the sustainability of the council in this form. “We will have to wonder about a place where we can come to an agreement on the diagnosis. Obviously, it will not be the Pensions Orientation Council”, explained in particular a source to Matignon in the newspaper Opinion.