Will this be enough to get lawyers back into their law firms after a month of strike? Matignon accelerated his agenda by sending late last night, the new government proposal to accompany the entry of black dresses in the pension plan. Within the profession it is recognized that for the first time the latter clearly exposes the device with a vision of the effects over time.
Concretely, Édouard Philippe promised the profession to enshrine in law this first principle of compensation for the increase in pension contributions by a reduction of 30% in social contributions - social security and CSG -. This system proposed to all liberal professions will still have to go through the caudine forks of the Constitutional Council. "Until 2029, there will be no increase in contributions because we will decrease the base of all that is contribution outside retirement," hammered Nicole Belloubet, the Keeper of the Seals on LCI, Thursday morning .
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However, this reduction would not fully compensate for the increase implying entry into the universal scheme. According to calculations by the National Bar Council and the government, the latter would still be 5.4 points. "From there, we say, choose a smoother, more united transition if you wish," insisted Nicole Belloubet.
Matignon therefore offers two scenarios to lawyers to compensate for this increase, which affects half of the profession. The latter could, from 2029, compensate for this increase by setting up additional contribution costs for lawyers whose income is above 80,000 euros. It remains to be seen whether this system of solidarity will be accepted by the profession and in this case the wealthiest lawyers.
Transition regime
The profession could also choose, another scenario consisting of "a transitional regime until 2040 (...), with a smoothing in time which can even go until 2054," said the Keeper of the Seals. The autonomous lawyers 'fund had in fact anticipated the need to increase lawyers' contributions by 0.2% until 2054. The government therefore suggests that lawyers keep this trajectory which is below what the government initially planned . By definition, however, this smoothing would result in a lesser perception of retirement points. To compensate for the deterioration in pensions, lawyers would have the right to draw on their two billion euros of reserve.
But this solution poses the question of the pensions of lawyers born before 1975 and who from 2029 will be paid by the only autonomous fund. Will the reserves then be sufficient enough to provide for their retirement and to compensate for the deterioration of those to come?
In a context heated up by months of conflict, the profession will have to decide whether the government effort is sufficient or whether it intends to continue its movement which seems to go far beyond the sole issue of pensions.
