Agricultural pensions: the Senate proposes a new calculation method, based on the best 25 years

In the midst of an agricultural crisis, the Senate put pressure on the government on Tuesday by adopting its version of a pension reform for farmers calculated over the best 25 years, while a law passed in 2023 on the subject remains to be applied. A few hours after the reception of the majority agricultural unions by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the issue of retirement pensions was echoed in the upper house with this bill from the senatorial right, adopted unanimously.

The senatorial approach results from a reform adopted more than a year ago in Parliament but whose implementation is proving particularly complex. The initial reform set the objective of determining the amount of the basic pension for non-salaried workers in agricultural professions based on the best 25 years, from January 1, 2026. But this text, certainly consensual, also left the government with the take care to outline the technical details on the basis of a report examining the different possible routes. Initially expected within three months, this report was eight months late and was not submitted until early February 2024.

Furthermore, the options retained in this report do not satisfy the Senate and its right and center majority, who believe that all scenarios will result in losers and will be inapplicable from 2026. “It is a provocation which risks fueling the anger”, was indignant Les Républicains senator Philippe Mouiller, assuring that the Senate “will not admit further postponement of the reform, nor its burial”. Philippe Mouiller has therefore decided to take the matter in hand by proposing to include his own method of calculation directly in the law, which he assures is "fair" and "equitable" and leaves "no losers", even if the left expressed his skepticism.

He advocates maintaining a points system, based on a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) dating from 2012. This report estimated the gain for the operators concerned at 47.70 euros on average. Before the senators, the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau did not approve this proposal which does not allow “convergence with the regime of employees and other self-employed workers”, based on annuities and not points. “Our objective is to continue our work, to accelerate it,” he added, indicating that we have the “firm intention of succeeding” in the “days or even weeks” to come, “and no more”. There is no guarantee that this senatorial bill will then be examined in the National Assembly, a prerequisite for its adoption in Parliament.