The kick-off has been given. The consultations on the pension reform began on Wednesday October 5, the first stage of a long road towards the decline in the retirement age wanted by the government. A modification of the system which makes a lot of noise, because the French are mainly opposed to it, according to a last poll, carried out by YouGov for the Huffington Post. 66% of those questioned say they are unfavorable to the executive’s project, among which 48% are even “completely unfavorable”, i.e. nearly one in two French people.

This is not a surprise, but this survey raises another important point: the vision that the French have of this reform carried out by Emmanuel Macron. Only 35% of those questioned explain that they “understand the objective(s)” of the project, compared to 55% who do not understand them at all. Is it the fault of the Executive? Pension reform has been on the table since the Head of State’s first five-year term, but the Covid-19 pandemic has reshuffled the cards… And profoundly modified the initial project.

The latter had been voted in 2019 by the National Assembly thanks to article 49.3. It was then, recalls the Huffington Post, a “points” formula in order to harmonize the different regimes and bring more fairness to the system. From now on, it is also necessary to ensure the continuity of this system on a financial level while it is “structurally in deficit”, recalled the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt.

The government will have to take out the oars to convince the population, but also the social partners and the opposition. After considering a forced passage of the reform, the Executive finally opted for consultation and invited those with a voice in the chapter to dialogue. What topics will be discussed? How long is this going to take? The timetable for the pension reform has just been unveiled and you can discover it below.