“It’s bold but it’s dangerous.” The formula for this rapprochement with the president may be flowery, it has the merit of clarity. Emmanuel Macron, who wants to speed up pension reform, is willing to take the risk of going fast.
The extension of the retirement age could be made through an amendment considered as part of Social Security’s budget in the fall. A simple option, according to various ministers and Emmanuel Macron himself, but which, in reality, is the preferred option. “It’s not resolved, but one thing is for sure: It’s clearly not a test balloon.”, insists this member of Emmanuel Macron’s entourage.
To the great annoyance of a part of the majority that could well fracture.
“In the group it is 50/50, between those who want to go fast and those who want to temporize,” advances a macronista deputy, present during the group’s meeting in the National Assembly this Tuesday morning.
“You can fart in our hands”
On the one hand, Éric Woerth, for example, advocated the speed solution. The former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy, now elected Renaissance, sees in the pension reform a “marker of courage”.
On the other hand, Sacha Houlié, the president of the Legal Commission often considered as the left wing of macronie, for his part defends a slower pace to help convince the unions.
“Sacha Houlié is not alone at all. The vast majority of the group is critical of the Executive on this issue,” confides another majority deputy.
If Emmanuel Macron has campaigned well to extend the retirement age, which could be 64 or 65, several elected officials are concerned about the social context.
“We ask the French to make efforts on inflation and the energy crisis, after two very hard years linked to Covid-19,” says a member of the Social Affairs Committee. And there, we will also ask them to put in extra efforts by asking them to work harder.”
“It’s dangerous and it can break our hands,” said this elected official.
“It is the bandage that we remove with a snap”
To try to get out of the pothole, Aurore Bergé, the group’s president calls to talk about the substance and not the form. The method aims to avoid the trial of brutality when Emmanuel Macron again promised during the National Refoundation Council in early September “a new democratic method”.
“There will never be a good time to do it. The political context will be even worse at the beginning of next year, with weaker growth and the measures on gasoline will end at some point,” a member of the group still defends.
Aware that the issue divides the French, the government’s goal is to move quickly with one goal: to avoid the large mobilizations that rebel France is trying to launch with its march against the high cost of living on October 16.
“It is the bandage that we suddenly removed. It is painful but it is faster and we avoid months of demonstrations”, translates another ministerial adviser.
A minimum pension of 1,100 euros to convince?
In an attempt to smooth things over, the executive promises that the extension of the retirement age will coincide with the minimum retirement of 1,100 euros for full careers. “Obviously there will also be sweet”, assures the entourage of the head of state.
“Good luck to those who will have to go in front of their constituents to explain that they have refused to improve the standard of living for retirees,” scoffs an elected Renaissance man, pointing at the LRs.
The right has already hinted that it would probably vote to raise the retirement age.
Centrists say no.
It is the Modem, the main partner of the executive, and its 49 deputies who, however, could well continue to be the stone in the government’s shoe. François Bayrou also made his reluctance heard last Saturday, saying that he “opposes a forced passage” in the columns of the Parisian.
If the head of Moderna defends the reform in the background, he supports where the concern is strong in the ranks of the macronie: that of the possible use of 49.3 approve the Social Security budget, in the absence of an absolute majority.
After a Tuesday morning meeting of Modem deputies, its boss, Jean-Paul Mattei, informed the press that his group “will not be able to accept a reform, small or large, through an amendment”, and the position will “certainly vote against this amendment” if it occurs.
The Modem group, therefore, “requests a consultation that allows us to be at the right political moment.”
“We are used to Modem’s postcards. In the end, it is ‘business as usual’, says a deputy, convinced that the reform will be applied in the ‘summer of 2023’, as Emmanuel Macron wishes.
Matignon’s concern
However, the situation is not enough, a priori, to reassure Matignon. According to various sources in the Executive, the President of the Government is not at all enthusiastic about a reform by amendment.
“If a motion of censure is voted, the Government jumps and therefore Borne too. She is the wick and she knows it,” says a regular interlocutor of Emmanuel Macron
In Macronie, everyone is now waiting for white smoke. Decision sooner or later? Response from an Elysian adviser: “With the president, it’s often too late.”
Source: BFM TV
