A not so beneficial measure? The LR president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, asked Michel Barnier on Thursday to “return” to his measure to increase pensions, which had been announced by Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the deputies of his political family Monday evening.
“It’s a sleight of hand,” criticized the right-wing leader on RTL, because it involves creating “9 million losers among retirees,” he explained. “Either Michel Barnier did not look exactly, (…) or they realized that it was not a gift for retirees, that it was a gift for Bercy,” said Xavier Bertrand, denouncing “a announcement effect”.
Because, he detailed, those who will only benefit from a revaluation of half of inflation, “they will miss about 1%” this year but also “in 2026 and in 2027, until at the end of their days.”
In a sequence deemed “incongruous” by the other members of the government coalition, the president of the LR deputies announced Monday to the TF 1 news that the executive would defend a general revaluation of pensions by half of inflation on January 1 then a second on July 1 for small pensions only. Thus 9 million retirees would not be able to benefit from this second increase, according to Xavier Bertrand.
Initially, Michel Barnier's government planned to revalue all pensions at the level of inflation (2%), not on January 1 as is customary, but on July 1 to save around 4 billion euros.
“Retirees receive their pension because they contributed, they had a career that was not 35 hours long, it was not the same time, it was not the same working conditions,” underlined Xavier Bertrand, also recalling that mutual insurance costs more for retirees who have “more health care than others”.
