In an interview with the Sunday edition of Journal du Dimanche, Fillon also pledged to maintain pressure on posts in the public sector, where one in two leavers are not replaced.“It is THE reform for the months ahead,” Fillon said when asked by the newspaper about plans by the center-right government for a shake-up of France’s retirement system. President Nicolas Sarkozy is planning a major overhaul of the pensions system, including raising the retirement age. He also plans to rein in France’s public deficit, which is expected to reach 8.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2010.
“This is the essential question: at a certain point the debt level becomes unsustainable,” Fillon told the newspaper. “The social security deficit is weighing very heavily but it is not the only part of the problem. We will continue to reduce the number of posts in the civil service,” he added. “Above all we will continue to freeze state spending in the next budget. It is an extraordinary effort and one which is extremely difficult to carry out.”
A copy of the interview was released ahead of publication. French trains, schools and public services were hit earlier in the week by protests over pensions and wages, with unions looking to capitalize on a hefty defeat for President Nicolas Sarkozy at weekend regional elections.
Last Sunday, Sarkozy’s center-right allies suffered their worst electoral defeat in more than five decades, as leftist parties swept to power in 23 out of France’s 26 regions. Sarkozy responded by overseeing a rejig of his cabinet, sacking the minister who had been set to lead negotiations on a pensions reform after he fared particularly badly in the vote.
