How much does the Pradié amendment really cost? It is a question of two or ten billion euros, and which has been the subject of a standoff since last Thursday between the government and the number two of the Republicans Aurélien Pradié.
It all goes back to Thursday, February 9, when Aurélien Pradié is the guest of franceinfo. During the 8:30 a.m. franceinfo, the deputy explained that he would not vote for the government’s project if the “long career” system was not extended. He wants those who started working early not to need to contribute more than 43, when in some cases it could be 44. He even put this measure at two billion euros, while the government , he does not budge, and estimates its cost at ten billion.
>> Pension reform: follow the latest information live
And to better understand where this war of figures comes from, the deputy LR advances, for his part, an argument: this figure of two billion euros would come from a note established by Matignon, himself. franceinfo was able to consult an extract from this note which takes up one page. Entitled “Argument on the construction of the reform: age and duration”, it is the fruit of exchanges which took place “around January 10“between Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and members of the leadership of the Republicans, namely Eric Ciotti the president of the party and Olivier Marleix, the leader of the LR deputies, but not Aurélien Pradié.
The question of “summer jobs”
In this note, one can indeed read, at the very end of the page that “The plan proposed by Aurélien Pradié of not going further than 43 years of contributions for all those who started working early would cost around two billion euros“. It is therefore behind this argument that the deputy for Lot is lining up to defend his amendment.
However, the government persists in saying that this amendment would indeed cost ten billion euros. Matignon argues that the versions of Aurélien Pradié have been different over the course of the debate. The deputy for Lot originally wanted all those who contributed a quarter before their 21st birthday to join the “long career” system. Impossible, according to the government, otherwise it would amount to saying that all those who have had a summer job enter the system.
Do without a voice that carries?
Thursday, February 9, Aurélien Pradié asked that the legal age be no longer taken into account for long careers and that we stick to 43 years of contributions. In this case, yes, the device costs two billion euros, if it is estimated that 43 years worked correspond to 43 years of full contributions. Except that, according to Matignon, the amendment as it was tabled does not say the same thing: Aurélien Pradié would include in the calculation periods of unemployment, disability, illness without any limit…, which would allow early departures for people who have had choppy careers.
Mechanically, this would inflate the number of people concerned and therefore the total cost of the measure, again according to Matignon, up to 10 billion euros. An unreasonable addition in the eyes of the government which is more than ever keen on the budgetary balance of its reform, at the risk of dispensing with the voice of one of the leaders of the Republicans, a group whose support is essential to the vote of the reform.