“The why of this reform was forcefully recalled by the President of the Republic”, explained the Secretary of State, stressing that “the objective of the reform”, promised during the presidential election by the candidate Emmanuel Macron, “n is not to remain blocked on the subject of the legal age which is neither a totem nor a taboo”.

Worn by Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign, the pension file, crucial, promises to be one of the most delicate of the new government.

After the abortive reform of the first five-year term, the second attempt to push back the legal retirement age from 62 to 65 comes with an additional carrot: the president has promised all retirees a minimum pension of 1,100 euros per month, and adjustments at the age of 65 for long careers and certain arduous jobs.

Not enough to appease the unions, who are already proclaiming their opposition to the reform, two and a half years after calling for strikes which had paralyzed transport in the country.

“It is a reform that we are making to create room for maneuver to finance social progress in our country and better support for our fellow citizens,” she insisted during her report from the Council of Ministers.

“The objective of the pension reform goes beyond the sole subject of pensions, there is behind this government’s desire to finance the reforms to come for the next five-year period (…), including the reform of dependency, but more largely the health reform, and others to come”, continued the spokesperson.

“We refuse to finance (them) by raising taxes and we refuse to finance (them) by leaving the debt to future generations,” she added.

“These choices will result in the pension reform with the dual objective, which is set by the President of the Republic to the government, both the pursuit of the objective of full employment and at the same time the need for all of us to work a little bit longer gradually,” the spokeswoman said.