French Commission for major future economic challenges published its report

MEA director Axel Börsch-Supan was a member of the French “Commission of Experts for Major Future Economic Challenges” and working group leader on "Demographic change: aging, health and immigration” in France, which also published its recommendations.

Munich / Paris. On 23 June 2021 the final report of the French “Commission of Experts for Major Future Economic Challenges” (FR: Commission d’experts sur les grands défis économiques), established in May 2020, was presented to the public. MEA Director Axel Börsch-Supan was a member and working group leader of this Commission, appointed by the French President Emmanuel Macron. He chaired the working group on "Demographic change: aging, health and immigration".

At the center of the recommendations of the working group is a pension reform in France and, more generally, higher employment rates among individuals aged 55 and older. The pension reform addresses the current pension system’s fragmentation that creates intragenerational inequities and is perceived as unfair. Moreover, its complexity makes it incomprehensible and costly to administrate.

In general, there is a need to adjust the average retirement age to life expectancy and future benefit increases to old-age dependency. However, there is also the need to protect workers in arduous and unhealthy occupations. Moreover, the recommendations include increasing pension benefits for those with low earnings.

The researchers of the working group also stress the necessity of complementing pension reform in a holistic way by measures to improve the labor market for older workers, strengthening health maintenance and reducing health inequalities and to better integrate immigrants into the labor market.

All recommendations of the working group are presented in the >> summary (pdf) (p 85 ff)

>> Please find here the whole report (pdf)

About the Commission:

The 26-member commission was made up of renowned economists from France, Europe and the USA. The Commission reported to the president on three main topics: climate change, inequality and demographic change. Its aim was to make recommendations to address these three major challenges. >> Read more about the Commission