French presidential hopeful Philippe proposes pushing retirement age to 65

PARIS — French presidential candidate Edouard Philippe pitched gradually raising the country’s legal age of retirement from 64 to 65 for most workers in his much-anticipated pensions reform plan unveiled on Tuesday.

Philippe, a center-right former prime minister whose campaign has yet to gain traction against his populist rivals, said in a nearly 20-minute video that reforming the country’s generous pension system was imperative given France’s increasingly dire fiscal outlook.

“We need to take the right decisions before the [financial] crisis that is set to hit us,” he said. “All European countries, whether governed by the right or the left, Germany, Spain… have implemented this. We are the only ones who haven’t.”

The proposal also included gradually introducing some capitalization, in which a worker’s contributions are invested for their future retirement, into the system. He also wants to require people to make monthly contributions for 45 years instead of 43.

Philippe’s plan appears largely in line with his pitch to voters as a fiscally responsible candidate who won’t hide from the truth.

But retirement reform is one of French politics’ most explosive issues. French President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship reform in 2023, which raised the age to 64 for most workers, sparked massive protests and was so unpopular that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had to delay its implementation until after next year’s presidential election to save his government from being toppled.

Philippe is struggling to hit his stride in a campaign currently dominated by far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen, who proposed bringing the retirement age down to 62 at an estimated cost of €9 billion per year, and surging far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who wants the retirement age back at 60.

Recent polls showed Mélenchon beating Philippe for second place and a spot in the runoff against Le Pen.

Philippe tried to soften the blow, pledging that one in three French citizens would be able to retire early under his plan because their jobs are physically taxing.

“It’s not a favor but the recognition of reality … for the nurse who has been lifting patients for twenty years and who works nights at hospital … for the truck driver who spent his life on the road,” he said.