French President Emmanuel Macron will increase the country’s retirement age to 65, up from 62, if he is re-elected for a second term.

As reported by Euro News, the government confirmed Macron’s plans on Thursday, just a week after he announced his intention to run again for President in the elections which begin next month.

His spokesperson Gabriel Attal, told RTL Radio: "Do we want to continue financing protections for the French and invest for them? We say yes.
"But do we think we should raise taxes? No. So that means working longer," Attal said.

In addition, according to The Telegraph, Macron told MPs from his LREM Party on Wednesday: “We have to accept that we must work for longer to continue to have a social model that can be maintained and correspond to rising life expectancy.”

It is 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.

The announcement will reignite the pension debate in France; 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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