Three questions regarding the funding of the suspension of pension reform were debated by the deputies

The Assembly specifically examined, on Wednesday, the article of the Social Security finance bill containing the promise made by Sébastien Lecornu to the Socialist Party, to postpone the pension reform.

Will the 2023 pension reform be postponed? The deputies should continue the debate on the draft Social Security budget for 2026 starting Wednesday November 12, at 15.00. And among the priority files awaiting them is the suspension of the pension reform, promised by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

1 How much does this suspension cost?

The impact of the suspension of pension reform turned out to be higher than initially estimated. Moreover, from now on the government wants to expand the scope of this suspension, especially for those with long-term careers, to certain categories of civil servants, such as firefighters or nurses, or even those born in the first quarter of 1965.

The extension of the suspension of pension reform would cost 200 million euros in 2026 and 500 million euros in 2027, according to amendments submitted by the government on Wednesday morning. Therefore, suspending the reforms in total would cost 300 million euros next year and 1.9 billion euros in two years.

2 How does the government plan to finance all these concessions?

In its initial copy, the executive proposed two measures to compensate for the costs of simply delaying reform. The first is the extraordinary contribution of complementary health insurance, which is expected to generate more than 1 billion euros. And the second consists of freezing pension funds in 2026, then under-indexing with respect to inflation until 2030, so that the increase is not as fast as price increases. But deputies withdrew the additional tax on mutual insurance companies last week and they will have to do the same in the fallow year, the Prime Minister himself said he was ready to give up.

The Minister of Labor, Jean-Pierre Farandou, clarified, on France 2 Wednesday morning, that this expansion will be financed by the CSG increase on capital income, voted on last week by the National Assembly in the income section of the social security finance law. “There is 1.4 additional CSG points that are most likely to be used”said the minister. This new source of revenue is expected to generate less than 3 billion euros

3 Is the compensation provided sufficient?

In addition, the Assembly rejected other measures planned by the executive, resulting in Social Security shortfalls, such as an 8% employer contribution for meal vouchers.

However, the general budget reporter, deputy LR Thibault Bazin, concerns that an increase in the general contribution rate to capital income would not be sufficient to cover the costs “all actions are avoided or added” since the start of the debate.