Key facts
- National Rally will present its pension plans on November 17, Reuters reported.
- Le Pen has said her pension reforms would save €15 billion to €20 billion a year once fully implemented.
- Le Pen pledged in October to find €140 billion ($155 billion) in budget savings by 2032.
- France's public audit office has said repealing Macron's reform could cost €10 billion annually.
- RN officials have said workers would need 40 to 42 years of contributions for a full state pension.
- Pensions are set to reach €436 billion next year, or 14% of economic output, the report said.
France's National Rally will set out its pension plans on November 17, as the party tries to convince investors its program is affordable should it win the spring presidential election, Reuters reported on November 13. Opinion polls cited by the report suggest Marine Le Pen's party is on course to take power in five months.
The party is trying to keep its promise to let workers who started young retire at 60 while limiting the cost of unwinding President Emmanuel Macron's pension overhaul. Pensions are among France's most politically charged issues, and the report said investors are watching for a commitment to raise the retirement age as a sign of fiscal discipline at a time of strained public finances and bond market jitters.
Le Pen said in October she would find €140 billion ($155 billion) of savings in France's budget by the end of the next presidential term in 2032, but has struggled to convince economists and investors that such cuts are achievable. She has said her pension reforms would save €15 billion to €20 billion a year once fully implemented, a target the report said could prove hard to reach if she keeps the pledge to let workers who started particularly young retire at 60.
Le Pen has also pledged to repeal Macron's 2023 reform, which would gradually raise the retirement age to 64 from 62. The overhaul triggered months of protests, and the government suspended the plan in 2025 as part of a deal with Socialists to secure parliamentary backing for its budget.
"None of the pension reforms implemented over the last 15 or 20 years have managed to fix the system. So what we want to do is to fix the system," RN party president Jordan Bardella said in the week of November 9.
Pensions are France's single biggest public expense, set to reach €436 billion next year, or 14% of economic output, according to the report. Recent comments from RN officials suggest the party is leaning toward making the number of years worked the key factor for eligibility rather than a single retirement age.
Party officials continue to promise retirement between 60 and 62, but have also said workers would need between 40 and 42 years of contributions for a full state pension, meaning many who enter the workforce after higher education would still need to work into their mid-60s. Tanguy said in October that people could still retire at 62 but would face reduced benefits without the required contribution period.
That approach would let the RN keep a flagship electoral pledge while reducing the cost of reversing Macron's reform, which France's independent public audit office has said could cost €10 billion annually, according to the report. Bardella said the party would tighten the rules on which contribution periods count and create financial incentives for employers to retain workers old enough to retire who want to stay in work. The RN would also let workers divert part of their contributions to a sovereign wealth-style investment fund.