From his first five-year term, Emmanuel Macron showed himself determined by announcing that he would give up his retirement as President of the Republic. Indeed, the former tenants of the Elysée Palace benefit from advantages at the time of their retirement with in particular, in accordance with article 56 of the Constitution, seats in the Constitutional Council and a retirement pension. With the next pension reform, are changes planned for these conditions and will the pension of presidents change?
Initially, the President of the Republic does not benefit from a special pension scheme. However, thanks to the law of April 3, 1955, he receives an annual salary equal to the salary of a State Councilor “in regular activity” until the end of their days. If we refer to the figures published in 2021, the total monthly amount of this pension ranges from 5,496.71 euros to 6,227.73 euros. Regardless of the time during which the President of the Republic has been in office, the allocation will be identical.
The former President of the Republic can also claim seats in the Constitutional Council, as required by Article 56 of the Constitution. By asserting this right, he obtains a net monthly allowance of 13,500 euros. In this context, it is an activity-related payment and not a retirement pension. If the former president decides to withdraw from the Constitutional Council, he will no longer be able to claim payment of this allowance.
Among other benefits of former presidents, the right to hire employees lasts for five years after the end of their activity. They thus have the possibility of recruiting seven full-time employees and two service staff to provide the secretariat. Gradually, this number will be reduced from 7 to 3, then from 2 to 1.
For the time being, only Emmanuel Macron has publicly announced, in 2019, that he wishes to give up his pension as President of the Republic, according to the law of April 3, 1955. He has also chosen not to sit on the Constitutional Council. The former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, has not sat there since 2013, while François Hollande has never been there.
With the future pension reform, it is planned that the pension of the President of the Republic will be included in a system of universal points. He will thus have to contribute to his rewards and accumulate points so that his retirement is calculated under similar conditions to the earning of his points.
Currently, the remuneration of the president is around 15,000 euros per month. As part of the pension reform, he will only receive, at the time of his retirement, pension rights equal to three times the social ceiling of this indemnity, i.e. 3,428 euros x 3 for a total of 10,284 euros per year. year.
