Seized by the Prime Minister, the left and the extreme right, the Constitutional Council now has in its hands the fate of the pension reform, approved with forceps in Parliament.
A partial censorship of the text is “probable”, according to the constitutionalist Anne-Charlène Bezzina, a professor at the University of Rouen. The Elders could make their decision “within three weeks.”
Anne-Charlène Bezzina’s view on the possibility of rejection, the time it will take to get a response and the chances of the shared initiative referendum being successful.
Can the text be censored?
“The Government has chosen as a legislative vehicle to approve its reform a bill on the amending financing of the social security budget (PLFRSS). And several voices, including that of the president of the Constitutional Council Laurent Fabius, have already warned about the ‘fiscal rider’ risk that threatens all provisions outside the financial sphere.
In particular, measures such as the senior index (obligation to declare employees over 55 in a company) or experimentation with a senior CDI could be rejected.
Let us not forget that, since its creation in 1958, the Constitutional Council has been particularly rigorous: it inevitably censures provisions that go beyond the areas provided for by the texts. In this case, a second legislative text will be necessary to possibly integrate these devices.
The total censorship of the text remains highly unlikely: there are many measures that concern the 2023 Social Security budget. Therefore, using a financing bill is not a priori unconstitutional. Only two bills, in 1979 and 2012, were fully censored under the Fifth Republic for procedural reasons.
When will the Wise Men speak?
“The Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, some 150 deputies from the left and the 88 from the National Group presented their three appeals on March 21. The Seniors have a month to decide, that is, until April 21.
But for this type of especially sensitive bill, where it is evident that the Constitutional Council will be consulted, it is very likely that the Elders have been working on their decision for a long time. Therefore, the latter could fall quickly, within three weeks.
Direct referrals by a Prime Minister are relatively rare under the Fifth Republic: only about thirty cases out of several hundred, as far as ordinary laws are concerned. In the pensions case, Elisabeth Borne had an interest in seizing the Council directly, despite separate appeals by the opposition.
The aim is to show a white paw, to express your wish that this highly controversial text be examined as soon as possible. The Council seized all reform from the government.
The appeals of the left and the National Association are directed particularly at the legislative vehicle used, which restricted the examination of the text in Parliament to 50 days, altering, according to them, the clarity and sincerity of the debates.
Is a shared initiative referendum likely to succeed?
“The nine Mayors must at the same time examine the admissibility of the bill introduced by the left calling for a shared initiative referendum (RIP). Some 250 deputies and senators ask to submit to a referendum the fact that retirement cannot be “set beyond sixty-two years”.
Then the collection of citizen signatures could be opened, in an attempt to reach a tenth of the voters, or 4.87 million signatures, within a period of nine months, to pave the way for this consultation.
Note that the government can always decide to put this bill on the Assembly’s agenda. It will then be examined by the deputies and Emmanuel Macron will no longer be submitted to a referendum.
The examination by the Constitutional Council of the draft law on this PIR and the possible organization of said consultation does not in any way suspend the promulgation of the text on pensions.
Source: BFM TV
