There are many ways in which you can sabotage collective bargaining over France’s Byzantine pensions system. Having an appointed negotiator exposed for having “forgotten” to mention links to the insurance industry, a key player on pensions, on his official statement of interests is the kind of own goal only President Emmanuel Macron makes a habit of scoring.
Jean-Paul Delevoye, 72, an old-style former Senator from the northern Rust Belt, once a Chirac Cabinet Minister and a long-time president of the worthy Economic and Social Council, was named High Commissioner for Pensions Reform two years ago. He was tasked by Macron, cagey after one year of Yellow Vests angry demonstrations, to “consult” and produce a reform project.
