Jean-Pierre Farandou, the new labor minister, questioned on Tuesday before the Senate's social affairs committee why so many French people want to leave their jobs around 60-62 years old. He announced the launch by late November of a conference on work and pensions, involving unions and employers, to discuss these issues. This initiative follows the suspension of the 2023 pension reform.
Jean-Pierre Farandou opened the discussion on Tuesday before the Senate's social affairs committee by posing a central question: « Why do so many French people, regardless of their profession, around 60-62 years old, want to leave work so badly? ». According to him, this issue has not been adequately addressed and is key to understanding French resistance to working two more years, in the context of the suspended 2023 pension reform.
The government will launch a conference on work and pensions by late November, involving unions and employers, hoping to reach an agreement on the system's future. « I think there is a path to an agreement », the minister stated. This conference will « lay out the different types of regimes » and address topics like classifications and hardship, without being a formal negotiation site, but rather « a place for debate, for expressing opinions, for listening to experts ».
Beyond pensions, Farandou plans to open discussions in 2026 on the financing of the Sécurité sociale, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. « We are wondering if at the start of 26, we shouldn't open the core issue of social security financing », he said. He called for « the courage to tackle this monument », rather than relying on annual expedients, if Parliament and social partners support it.