The vote scheduled for December 16 appears, barring a last-minute reversal, to confirm the government’s compromise strategy. After two months of intense negotiations, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu managed to assemble a fragile parliamentary majority by making several major concessions. The most politically significant of these was the suspension of the 2023 pension reform – a move that proved decisive in securing the support of the Socialist Party (PS).
To trade unions and left-wing parties that fought the reform from the outset, this concession represents both a symbolic victory and a potential gateway to the reform’s eventual repeal. Yet others warn that declaring the reform “dead” may be premature, since the legal framework technically remains in place.
Trade Unions Declare the Reform “Finished”
Among union leaders, few have been as categorical as Marylise Léon, the general secretary of the CFDT, France’s largest trade union. In an interview published on December 4, Léon stated bluntly that the 2023 law is “buried, finished”. While the PLFSS includes a revised timetable that would see the increase in the retirement age resume after 2028, Léon doubts this scenario will ever materialize.
Her reasoning is primarily political. With a presidential election scheduled for 2027, she argues that no serious candidate will dare campaign on a promise to raise the retirement age again. “Who would carry the idea of increasing the legal retirement age if they want to win the presidential election?” she asked rhetorically. In Léon’s view, the answer is obvious: no one.
The CFDT leader used the moment to revive a long-standing union proposal for a unified pension system without a mandatory minimum retirement age, focusing instead on flexibility and individual choice.
The CFTC shares a similar assessment. Its president, Cyril Chabanier, has declared the reform “dead”, calling it politically unthinkable for any presidential hopeful to resurrect a law that was overwhelmingly rejected by the public and continues to provoke opposition. However, he added a note of caution, warning that abandoning this reform does not mean workers are safe from other, potentially harsher measures in the future.
The Socialist Party Sees No Return to 64
In the political arena, the narrative of the reform’s irreversible decline is most strongly championed by the Socialist Party. Boris Vallaud, leader of the PS group in the National Assembly, has dismissed the idea that the reform could restart in 2028. By then, he notes, a new president and a new governing majority will be in place, likely compelled to reopen the pension issue from scratch.
According to Vallaud, any future reform will have to acknowledge a political reality that the 2023 law ignored: the French public does not want a legal retirement age set at 64. He argues that the debate should now shift toward designing an alternative system, integrated into a broader reflection on how to finance France’s social protection model as a whole.
Caution and Skepticism on the Left
Not all unions and left-wing figures are ready to declare victory. The CGT, through its confederal secretary Denis Gravouil, insists that it is too early to write the reform’s obituary. The legal retirement age of 64 still exists in law, he points out; its implementation has merely been delayed. While he acknowledges that the PLFSS represents a political breakthrough by weakening what he calls a “Macronist totem”, Gravouil argues that only full repeal will constitute a genuine win.
Force Ouvrière (FO) adopts an equally cautious stance. Michel Beaugas, one of its leaders, stresses that if the law remains unchanged, the delayed increase in the retirement age will eventually apply. Pretending otherwise, he warns, is “political dishonesty”. From this perspective, suspension should not be confused with abandonment.
This skepticism is even more pronounced among figures from La France insoumise (LFI). Eric Coquerel, president of the National Assembly’s finance committee, rejects the idea that the reform has been buried. In his view, only a definitive halt to the age increase would justify such a conclusion. As long as the law remains on the books, lawmakers could simply choose inaction, allowing the reform to resume automatically.
Supporters of the Reform Push Back
On the opposite side of the political spectrum, centrist and pro-reform lawmakers argue that declaring the reform dead is both premature and irresponsible. Philippe Vigier, a MoDem deputy, cautions against rushing to pronounce its demise. Jean-René Cazeneuve, a Renaissance deputy, goes further, asserting that the 2023 reform will “resume its course” unless replaced by a more ambitious and better-accepted alternative after the next presidential election.
For these lawmakers, the core issue is financial sustainability. France’s pay-as-you-go pension system faces mounting demographic pressure, and doing nothing is not an option. From their perspective, the real debate is not whether reform is needed, but what form it should take.
Vigier suggests reconsidering the centrality of a legal retirement age altogether, proposing instead a system that clearly links pension benefits to the age at which individuals choose to retire. Cazeneuve echoes this view, arguing that the legal retirement age has become a political “red rag” that may need to be bypassed. He floats the idea of a universal points-based or euro-based system, while acknowledging that longer working lives are, in his words, “inevitable”.
An Unresolved Equation After 2027
Even among more cautious conservatives, there is recognition that the 2023 reform cannot simply remain unchanged. Thibault Bazin, a Republican deputy and senior figure on social affairs, believes the law will have to be revisited because it fails to guarantee long-term financial balance. Whoever takes power after 2027, he argues, will be forced to confront this unresolved equation.
Whether that can be done without reference to a minimum retirement age remains an open question. Bazin doubts it is possible without a sweeping systemic overhaul, complete with new governance mechanisms to keep the system financially balanced.
A Debate Far from Over
While the suspension of the 2023 pension reform marks a major political shift, it does not close the chapter on pensions in France. Instead, it opens a new phase – one marked by uncertainty, competing visions, and an inevitable return of the issue in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election.
For now, opponents celebrate a hard-won pause in a deeply unpopular reform. Supporters warn that financial realities cannot be postponed indefinitely. Between these positions lies a familiar French reality: pensions remain one of the most explosive – and unavoidable – issues in public life.
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