In addition to the thorny reform, the government has been nurturing, for several months, another major project within the pension system. This is the transfer of the collection of Agric-Arrco contributions to Urssaf. In short, summarizes Le Figaro, “the government wants to repatriate the 80 billion euros of contributions from the scheme into its fold” in a real “battle around the nest egg of supplementary pensions”.
This transfer, scheduled for 2022, was finally postponed to 1st 2023. Quite naturally, it was therefore included by the government in the social security financing bill (PLFSS).
Much to the chagrin of unions and employers. The latter, managers of the Agirc-Arrco scheme, denounce a “hidden pension reform” and a measure of “capture” which would deprive them of their revenue.
For them, letting the State manage the contributions of private sector employees and the 60 billion reserve of the plan is a dangerous maneuver, which could lead, in the long term, to the purification of the deficits of other plans… and to many errors. in calculations and payments.
Going in their direction, the LR deputies tabled, during the week, an amendment aimed simply at removing the transfer device from the bill.
It was without counting on the tenacity of the majority. On Wednesday, at the end of the evening, the government in turn tabled an amendment reintroducing the measure, shifting it by one year.
The PLFFS was adopted in the process, Thursday, October 20, after the actuation of article 49.3 by Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne.
What to expect now?
The text thus provides for a transfer on January 1, 2024, “in order to secure the conditions for the success of this transfer and to respond to the requests expressed by certain social partners”, according to the text of the original amendment tabled by the government.
The executive also wants to be reassuring on the issue.
“The partners on whose behalf Urssaf collects contributions must have sufficient guarantees as to the completeness and accuracy of the contributions collected on their behalf,” reads the explanatory memorandum to the amendment.
The Borne government defends the measure, arguing that it would simplify the procedures for companies, and facilitate “the correction of erroneous data”.
A speech that is far from convincing the social partners.
Didier Weckner, president of Agirc-Arrco and representative of Medef, insists in Figaro:
The fund simply fears a “misappropriation” of its funds, in the hands of a State which could, therefore, do with it as it sees fit.
Brigitte Pisa, vice-president of Agirc-Arrco, and representative of the CFDT, adds, in the columns of the daily newspaper that with this transfer, “The 25 million employees will no longer have the certainty that the right rights are associated in the right account”.
This transfer of the recovery also seems… to hide another one.
According to Capital, the transfer, still to Urssaf, of pension contributions managed by Caisse des dépôts, initially planned for 2024, has been postponed to 2025.