Question 5753 — French people abroad

Summary

Mr. Karim Ben Cheikh alerts the Minister to the Minister of Labor, Health, Solidarity and Families, responsible for work and employment, on the situation of retirees of French origin established abroad or who have spent part of their career abroad. These beneficiaries are faced with numerous difficulties due to the tangle of institutional, legislative and regulatory mechanisms which are applicable. The first is that of the liquidation of the pension for French people residing outside the European Union. In countries with a social security agreement with France, beneficiaries submit their liquidation request to the corresponding local CNAV body. The procedure can be extremely long. Delays of several years are frequently observed and this problem has been reported very regularly by local elected officials, advisors to French people abroad. The second difficulty affecting beneficiaries who have experienced periods of work in France and in another country is the method of calculating pensions since a French person who has contributed the total number of quarters (including the quarters taken into account abroad) giving right to liquidation in the French system sees his pension calculated from an income average annual including the 25 best years of contributions in France. In many cases, this method of calculation requires integrating quarters contributed with starting salaries or even part-time or student “odd job” salaries to calculate the average annual income, or at significant discounts. The MP suggests that reflection be carried out around this method of calculating polypensioners, particularly around the idea of ​​proration aimed at eliminating the unfavorable aspects of the current mode by neutralizing the years of very low contributions in France (student salaries at the start of their career). He draws the attention of the Minister to the regulatory nature of the definition of the calculation method which makes it impossible for parliamentarians to propose legislative adjustments on this issue and therefore its full, political responsibility and regulatory. A third difficulty affects local law staff employed by French institutions who benefit from a right of option to join a social contribution center in France in accordance with social security conventions with certain countries. The difference between the legal retirement age in the country in which the employee works (often around 60 or 62) and the age legal retirement in France, 64 years since the reform of February 2023, results in employers offering retirement, even though the employee has not reached the legal age for pension liquidation in the French system and cannot therefore access his rights. Finally, the MP recalls that the previous minister, Mr. Dussopt, had committed to setting up a parliamentary working group to study the question of pensions for French people established outside France. To the MP's knowledge, this parliamentary working group has not met. The proposed working group was to enable the Ministry of Labor to examine with parliamentarians representing French people established outside France the numerous problems encountered by our compatriots receiving pensions. The MP reminds the Minister of the complexity of this problem and the very strong social consequences on the French people concerned, particularly for all compatriots who have spent part of their career abroad. The MP finally recalls that article 45 of the law of January 20, 2014 on pensions provided for the submission by the Government of a report to Parliament detailing the conditions of application of existing bilateral international conventions in matters of retirement. This report was in particular to assess the consequences of the implementation of these conventions for French people entitled to foreign systems and no longer residing in the State concerned and was also to examine the difficulties linked to receiving a retirement pension abroad. Due before December 31, 2014 and despite in-depth research, the MP notes that this report has not been submitted to Parliament. He would like to know its position on this subject, as well as on the constitution of the parliamentary working group on pensions for French people living abroad, at a time when the Assembly of French people living abroad is organizing a “Conference on the social protection of French people established outside France” until October 2025 under the aegis of the President of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate.

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