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Macron plans to raise French retirement age to 65

Emmanuel Macron plans to raise the retirement age in France to 65 if he is elected for a second term, government spokesman Gabriel Attal has confirmed, reopening a contentious issue that sparked widespread strikes in 2019.

Published: 10 March 2022 10:42 CET
Macron plans to raise French retirement age to 65
Pensions have been the cause of numerous protests in France in recent years, including this one in October 2021 in Bordeaux. (Photo: Philippe Lopez / AFP)

The president had declared in December that he wanted the French to “work longer”, and has repeated the message twice, firstly in his open letter to the French people in which he finally declared his candidacy for the Elysée, and secondly at a meeting involving a number of elected officials who had signed letters of sponsorship in his favour to allow him to run for a second term.

According to one person at that meeting, Macron said that he intended to bring “an ambitious pension reform for a social model that holds, […] but which also requires an investment for solidarity between generations and a project for the ‘autonomy’.”

And Attal confirmed the progressive pull back of the retirement age in an interview on RTL this morning.

The current official retirement age in France is 62, although workers in many industry including train drivers have ‘special regimes’ that allow them to retire earlier, in some cases from 55.

During his first term, Macron proposed a reform that simplified the system and got rid of the special regimes. Retirement age remained at 62, although a full pension was only granted from 64. 

Approved by Parliament despite two months of protests and strikes in 2019, the changes were in the end not rolled out because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO Macron: No pension reform in France before elections

But now-candidate Macron is set to push on with his plans and in fact expand them – including adding three years on to the working life of most French people, a policy in line with that of Presidential rival Valérie Pécresse.

President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand, who will represent Emmanuel Macron during an audition of candidates before the CFDT on Thursday, is set to outline the plans in more detail.

Macron’s campaign team promised that pensions would be simplified under the reforms: the transition to 65 years will be rolled out over a 10-year period, and will be accompanied by a number of other reforms, including a new minimum pension of €1,100 per month for those who have a full work history.

In addition, Emmanuel Macron wants to remove “the main special regimes” including those of workers at RATP or EDF, Le Figaro has reported.

The paper added that France’s pensions bill was €327.9 billion in 2019, or 13.5 percent of GDP, and the pension pot was in deficit to the tune of €18 billion in 2020.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

A resolution by a group of French MPs to 'say non to English at the Paris Olympics' has generated headlines - but will athletes and visitors really be required to speak French?

Published: 3 May 2024 10:10 CEST
Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

In a resolution adopted on Thursday, France’s Assemblée Nationale urged organisers of the 2024 Paris Games, as well as athletes, trainers and journalists, to use French as much as possible.

Annie Genevard, the sponsor of the resolution from the right-wing Les Républicains party, expressed alarm to fellow MPs that “the Olympic Games reflect the loss of influence of our language.”

The French MP’s resolution has garnered headlines, but does it actually mean anything?

Citing examples of English slogans in international sport, she added: “The fight for the French language … is never finished, even in the most official spheres.

“Let’s hope that ‘planche a roulettes’ replaces skateboard and ‘rouleau du cap’ point break (a surfing term), but I have my doubts.”

She’s right to doubt it – in French the skateboarding event is ‘le skateboard’, while the new addition of break-dancing is ‘le breaking‘.

But what does this actually mean?

In brief, not a lot. This is a parliamentary resolution, not a law, and is totally non-binding.

The Games are organised by the International Olympic Committee, the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and Paris City Hall – MPs do not have a role although clearly the Games must follow any French domestic laws that parliament passes.

The French parliament has got slightly involved with security issues for the Games, passing laws allowing for the use of enhanced security and surveillance measures including the use of facial recognition and drone technology that was previously outlawed in France.

So what do the Olympic organisers think of English?

The Paris 2024 organisers have shown that they have no problem using English – which is after all one of the two official languages of the Olympics. The other being French.

The head of the organising committee Tony Estanguet speaks fluent English and is happy to do so while official communications from the Games organisers – from social media posts to the ticketing website – are all available in both French and English.

Even the slogan for the Games is in both languages – Ouvrir grand les jeux/ Games wide open (although the pun only really works in French).

In fact the Games organisers have sometimes drawn criticism for their habit (common among many French people, especially younger ones) of peppering their French with English terms, from “le JO-bashing” – criticism of the Olympics – to use of the English “challenges” rather than the French “defis”.

The 45,000 Games volunteers – who are coming from dozens of countries – are required only to speak either French or English and all information for volunteers has been provided in both languages.

Paris local officials are also happy to use languages other than French and the extra signage that is going up in the city’s public transport system to help people find their way to Games venues is printed in French, English and Spanish.

Meanwhile public transport employees have been issued with an instant translation app, so that they can help visitors in multiple languages.

In short, visitors who don’t speak French shouldn’t worry too much – just remember to say bonjour.

Official language  

So why is French an official language of the Olympics? Well that’s easy – the modern Games were the invention of a Frenchman, the aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, in the late 19th century.

Some of his views – for example that an Olympics with women would be “impractical, uninteresting (and) unaesthetic” – have thankfully been consigned to the dustbin of history, but his influence remains in the language.

The International Olympic Committee now has two official languages – English and French.

Official communications from the IOC are done in both languages and announcements and speeches at the Games (for example during medal ceremonies) are usually done in English, French and the language of the host nation, if that language is neither English nor French.

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