French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is “ready to change the timeline” on his planned pension reform, as he enters the final round of the French general election against Marine Le Pen.

As reported by Reuters, Macron made the comments on his plans for pension reform whilst campaigning on Monday. He announced his plans for reform last month, which included increasing the country’s retirement age to 65, up from 62.

It was also reported that he wants the minimum pension to be set at €1,100 a month. This would be a significant increase for some pensioners, such as agricultural workers, who often receive €300-€400 currently.

Whilst campaigning on Monday, Macron said: "I am ready to change the timeline and say we don't necessarily have to do a reform by 2030 if I feel that people are too anxious.” He was also prepared, he said, to "open the door" on pushing the country's retirement age from 62 at the moment to 64, rather than 65, his initial proposal.

However, his election rival, Le Pen, stated: "There is nothing to expect here from Emmanuel Macron. He will go all the way to the end with obsession because it's a reality that the minimum (retirement) age of 65 is his obsession.”

Pension reform in France is a contentious issue; prior to the pandemic, Macron was met with numerous strikes and protests at his plans to reform the country’s pension system. The plans were dropped when the pandemic began but Macron has expressed his wishes to push through the reforms several times since then.

Macron’s previous plans for reform included increasing the retirement age to 64 and simplifying the system to unify 42 different schemes into a single points-based system.

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