The Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, praised this Sunday “the responsibility” of the boss of Les Républicains (LR) Eric Ciotti, in the opposition, who said he was ready to vote “a fair reform” of pensions. “I salute the responsibility of all those who are ready to seek a solution to allow our pension system to continue,” said Gabriel Attal on France 3.
“And then I salute the responsibility of those who are consistent with the commitments they made to the French”, he added, stressing that Les Républicains, “during the presidential campaign, said that they needed a pension reform with a decline in the legal age. In an interview at Sunday newspaperEric Ciotti said he wanted “to be able to vote for a fair reform that saves our pay-as-you-go pension system”, specifying that this reform was justified by “the budgetary, demographic and economic situation”.
Reform over a longer period
Gabriel Attal assured that the presidential majority had not reached any agreement with the Republicans, whose support is necessary to adopt the reform in the National Assembly without the constitutional weapon of 49.3. The government will unveil its reform project on Tuesday, contested by the unions, with a possible postponement of the retirement age to 64, instead of 62 currently, after having considered 65.
For Eric Ciotti, the reform must “spread over two five-year terms”, with an increase in the legal age of departure to 63 in 2027 then 64 in 2032. “We have always shown that we are open to compromise” , assured Gabriel Attal in response, “that we were ready to work, that we were ready to present a reform as soon as it guarantees the balance of our system”. “We announced a decline in the legal age over ten years”, he continued, “then we can adapt things”: “we have always said that it would be done gradually, on the horizon 2031”.