Under Article 17 of 2004/38, a person can get the right of permanent residence in less than 5 years if they stop work because they have reached state pension age in the host country, or if they are taking early retirement, as long as they ahve lived in the host state for at least 3 years and worked there at least 1 year. This is expressly stated to be by way of derogation from the normal 5 year rule (in Article 16) for permanent rights of residence. The article 16 rules is expressly stated to be not subject to the restrictions in Articles 6 to 14, which include the rules about not being an unreasonable burden.
There is nothing in Article 17 to say that that part of Article 16 doesn't apply.
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