FRANCE – Reforming the French occupational retirement provision landscape need not spell the end of the caisse de retraite pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system and the creation of pension funds to replace it, says incumbent French prime minister, Lionel Jospin, in his first interview as a presidential candidate.

Confirming his commitment to reforming the system to cope with demographic changes, Jospin believes that the current structure will not face problems for another 15 to 20 years and that collective employee savings schemes are the main solution to averting a future crisis.

Jospin says that employee savings assets should be managed collectively by the trades unions and should not be allowed to become individual accounts or Anglo-Saxon style pension funds.