Emmanuel Macron postpones the method but remains firm in the background. The president met this Wednesday with the heavyweights of his majority to define the path to follow in the pension reform. And according to our information, this has been postponed to January 2023 and, in principle, should not be included in the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS), as the Head of State had initially planned.
Over the next few months, discussions with the social and political partners will begin until Christmas. “We have opted for dialogue and consultation,” explained Élisabeth Borne on Thursday, adding that she would like “the entry into force of the reform in the summer of 2023.”
A choice that, however, could be called into question if the discussions reached a deadlock.
“If the consultations turned out to be a fiasco, then we could not rule out an amendment to the PLFSS”, confesses a member of the government.
“In that, we will not move”
By opting for this strategy, the president satisfies his majority heavyweights, who disagree on the way forward. Because if François Bayrou, head of the MoDem, asked for time to reach an agreement with the social partners, Édouard Philippe wanted him to “decide quickly”.
“There is a form of balance in this story. The Béarnaise is not humiliated, nor is the Norman, and all the reformists of the majority are there,” analyzed a participant at the dinner at the Elysee.
Consultations then, but not on all the topics for all that. If the issues of hardship or long careers can be discussed, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his desire to raise the legal retirement age to 64 by 2027 and then to 65 in 2031. Therefore, the heart of the reform such as the presented during the presidential campaign has been unchanged.
“We are not going to move on that,” commented a member of the Government present at the dinner.
“I dissolve right away”
Last issue addressed by the Head of State: the motion of censure. The elected officials of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) and those of the National Group (RN) are ready to vote for one if the government forcibly approves its pension text by 49.3.
“If there is a motion of censure that is voted on, I immediately dissolve” the National Assembly, threatened Emmanuel Macron.
A clear threat to the opposition tempted to overthrow the government through an alliance of convenience. Because to be approved, a motion of censure must gather the absolute majority of the votes of the deputies of the Assembly, that is, 289 votes. In the current composition of the hemicycle, it would therefore be necessary to bring together the deputies from Nupes, RN and Les Républicains.
Source: BFM TV
