The pension conclave is being extended with a final meeting on June 23

One of the longest days of the year was not enough for the social partners to reach an agreement on pensions. The discussions lasted until nightfall without reaching a conclusion. As midnight approached, Jean -Jacques Marette , the discussion leader, proposed a "last-chance operation."

At a final meeting scheduled for Monday, June 23, the former ENA graduate is expected to propose a joint text, attempting to formulate intermediate positions on the many disagreements that persist between unions and employers' organizations. What resembles a "catalogue of red lines," in the words of Christelle Thieffinne, negotiator for the CFE-CGC, will then have to be validated or not by the social partners.

"I will go to our authorities to discuss our conduct with them, to see if we will attend the meeting that was proposed for June 23rd," said Diane Milleron-Deperrois, negotiator for Medef, the main employers' organization. "We will consider whether we will attend the meeting entirely on the 23rd, or only at the beginning, or not at all," said Pascale Coton, negotiator for the CFTC.

All day long, the discussions "flirted with failure," according to Yvan Ricordeau, representative of the CFDT. After a morning of exchanges, nothing had really changed. "We are in a negotiation that is very complicated," lamented the CEDET negotiator during the lunch break. "We don't agree on... everything," added Christelle Thieffinne of the CFE-CGC at 3 p.m., before rushing into the room, the door of which closed again on the traders... before reopening less than an hour later for another break in the session at the request of the employers. Once the meal trays were consumed, the discussions resumed separately. Jean-Jacques Marette received the union organizations in turn, then the employers' organizations in an attempt to draw a middle line.

Next Monday, the various participants will be offered a summary of their discussions and will therefore have to give ground, or not, on several topics. On the question of age. While the hypothesis of a return of the legal retirement age to 62 has been buried by the unions, employee representatives still want to obtain the increase in the reduction age (the age at which insured persons are entitled to a full pension, even if they do not have the required number of quarters to be eligible) to 66 and a half years old, compared to 67 today. The CFTC nevertheless reiterated that 66 years old "remains its red line" on the subject. The unions are also pushing for arduousness to be better taken into account in early retirement. A position that the employers' organizations are currently rejecting.

Finally, disagreement persists over the financing of the system and its rebalancing by 2030. Employers' organizations still reject an increase in employee and employer contributions to absorb part of the deficit, which would amount to €6.5 billion in five years. "In the economic situation our companies are experiencing, this is not possible," insisted Diane Milleron-Deperrois, representative of Medef. The two employers' organizations are instead calling for greater participation from retirees, by de-indexing pensions over the next two years and increasing the CSG (General Social Contribution) for certain brackets. "For me, what is difficult is to make retirees pay for the entire balance of pensions," retorted Christelle Thieffinne of the CFE-CGC. She added: "I am quite pessimistic about the outcome of this negotiation." "We are still looking to find an agreement ," reaffirmed Eric Chevé for the CPME. Today there are five of us, we lost a lot along the way, so we have to finish together."