‘No change to France retirement age’ after backlash
There will be no change to the minimum retirement age in France, the health minister has confirmed, despite having previously suggested that “a lengthening in the duration of work” may be possible.
The move has been described as a “backtrack”, after health minister Agnès Buzyn had previously appeared (on Sunday March 17) to suggest that a new minimum retirement age would be proposed.
When questioned by MPs on the topic this week, however, Ms Buzyn said: “No change to the minimum age of retirement start is envisaged, and is not on the table of retirement reform negotiations.”
Ms Buzyn defended her position, saying that a change to the retirement age had not been her initial intention, and that the ensuing “polemic” had been caused by “differing interpretations” of her words.
Changing the retirement age – currently set at 62 – is a contentious issue in France.
In his electoral campaign, now-President Emmanuel Macron clearly discounted the idea of pushing back retirement age, even as he vowed to “reform the entire process”, and address the idea of a “universal retirement” system.
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