Local elected officials' retirement: Decree 2026-948 sets the insurance increase

Decree No. 2026-948 of October 12, 2026, defines the application procedures for the increase in insurance duration for the exercise of a local mandate, implemented pursuant to Article L. 161-21-2 of the Social Security Code. Published in JORF No. 0239 of October 13, 2026, under NOR: TRSS2616720D, it falls under the Ministry of Labor and Solidarity and will apply to pensions taking effect as of January 1, 2027.

The text implements in regulatory law a mechanism for increasing insurance duration open to holders of local mandates. It modifies four sets of rules: the Civil and Military Retirement Pensions Code, the Retirement Pensions Code for French merchant, fishing, or pleasure craft sailors, the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code, and the Social Security Code.

It is part of a series of recent texts dedicated to local elected officials, including Decree No. 2026-929 of October 6, 2026, setting the conditions for the application of Article L. 6112-5 of the Labor Code regarding the certification of skills acquired in the exercise of a local elective mandate, and the Order of August 28, 2026, concerning various measures applicable to the individual right to training for local elected officials.

The “Full Mandate” Condition

Article 4 creates Article R. 161-17-1 in the Social Security Code. The insured person who has exercised, without interruption, one or more of the functions referred to in Article L. 161-21-2 in one of the following four situations is deemed to have satisfied the condition of having completed a full mandate:

• from the first day following the election of the executive, after the renewal of the deliberative body during a general renewal, until the proclamation of the results of the following general renewal;
• from the first day following the election of the executive occurring after a final judicial annulment of the previous election, until the proclamation of the results of the following general renewal;
• from the first day following the election of the executive after a full partial election following a final judicial annulment, until the proclamation of the results of the following general renewal;
• from the first day following the election of the executive after a full partial election organized due to the inability to constitute the body, until the proclamation of the results of the following general renewal.

The same article assimilates the elected official who exercises these two functions simultaneously, regardless of the duration, to the combination of a parliamentary mandate and the function mentioned in 11° of Article L. 161-21-2, subject to the period provided for in I of Article LO 151 of the Electoral Code to end the incompatibility.

The Affected Pension Schemes

The decree extends the reference to the increase to all schemes eligible for it:

• Civil and Military Retirement Pensions Code: Article R. 26 bis now refers to Articles L. 161-21-2 and L. 173-1-5.
• Seafarers’ Retirement Pensions Code: Article R. 8-1 is rewritten; when both increases are granted by the scheme mentioned in Article L. 5551-1 of the Transport Code, each quarter is taken into account as service duration to the extent of ninety days.
• Rural and Maritime Fishing Code: The reference L. 161-21-2 is inserted into the first paragraph of Article R. 732-61.
• Decree of December 26, 2003 (Article 15, I) and Decree of October 5, 2004 (Article 12, I): a 10° and a 9° add the increase granted to local elected officials.
• Decree of May 10, 2017: a 2° bis specifies the application of IV of Article R. 161-17-1 in its version applicable to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.

Supporting Documents and Entry into Force

The insured person requesting the benefit of the increase must produce, upon request of the competent fund, the documents justifying the nature of the functions held as well as the start and end of the mandate. An order from the minister in charge of social security will establish the list of these documents. The scheme competent to grant the increase is determined according to Article R. 173-15.

Article 8 sets the entry into application for pensions taking effect as of January 1, 2027. The Minister of Labor and Solidarity, the Minister of Overseas Territories, and the Minister of Action and Public Accounts are responsible for the execution of the decree.

For mayors, deputies, municipal and intercommunal councillors, the text secures the recognition of mandates exercised over a full electoral cycle, including in the event of judicial annulment or full partial election, and aligns special schemes with the common law of old-age insurance. The first affected settlements will take place from 2027, once the order establishing the required supporting documents has been published.

Source: JORF No. 0239 of October 13, 2026, NOR: TRSS2616720D, Decree No. 2026-948 of October 12, 2026.