Many believed that the pension reform buried after the Covid-19 crisis. But the President of the Republic does not want to give up entirely on his reform, which was to be the great act of the quinquennium, and wants to put it partly back on the agenda. It remains to be seen whether the subject will be discussed on Sunday evening by Emmanuel Macron during his televised address.
But already, the social partners unanimously estimated Thursday morning that this was not the time to relaunch this undermined subject, while France faces the most serious economic crisis since the Second World War, during a major meeting organized by the association of journalists from social information (Ajis).
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Of course all the unions, which were against the reform, remain firmly opposed to it. "The best future of pension reform is the closet," summed up concise François Hommeril (CFE-CGC). "It would be inappropriate to put the pension reform on the table when we have so many other cats to whip," said Yves Veyrier (Force Ouvrière), pointing to the record unemployment rate expected after the health crisis. Likewise, the CGT does not budge: for it, this project remains indefensible.
More surprisingly, even the CFDT, a great defender and promoter of the reform, is walking on eggs. “We are no longer in the same style. I continue to believe that a universal pension system is fairer. I do not give up. But now is not the time to start fighting again on this subject at the start of the new school year, " said Laurent Berger.
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As for employers, he does not seem to want to reopen scars that have barely closed, when so many other files are piling up. "Before relaunching the pension reform, we should already ask ourselves how deep the hole is," reacted Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, president of Medef. And for good reason: with the explosion of unemployment and the fall in contributions, the deficit of the pension system will soar and the need for funding, which the COR estimated with great optimism at 12 billion euros in 2025 before the crisis, will be atomized.
For his part Alain Griset, president of the U2P, which represents traders, craftsmen and self-employed, recalled the opposition of the liberal professions, who have repeatedly refused to integrate their autonomous pension funds into a vast universal scheme.