Officially, it was not at Bercy that the pension reform project was developed, presented on Tuesday January 10 by Elisabeth Borne. But Bruno Le Maire intends to keep a hand on this flagship text of Macron’s second five-year term, presented by the executive as the only way to reduce the deficit and therefore guarantee the financial balance of the system. Tuesday, January 10, the Minister of Economy and Finance grilled the politeness of his labor counterpart, Olivier Dussopt, and eclipsed his Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal: it was he who spoke at the podium just after the Prime Minister to expose the financial framework of the reform – simple question of protocol, since it is number two of the government, ensures its entourage.
The former member of the Les Républicains party, who has long defended a postponement of the legal retirement age, does not hide his opposition to new budgetary measures, which would make the current project more socially acceptable. “My responsibility is to guarantee the financial balance of the pay-as-you-go system in 2030. This is the political guarantee of the preservation of a system based on solidarity”, he hammers. Nearly a third of the 17.7 billion euros (nearly 6 billion) that the reform should bring in in 2030 will be re-spent on support measures, if we include the increase in the minimum pension for all retirees, he argues. “The idea is not to find gestures, but an overall balance. We must accept our differences”he still asserts, warning against the idea of multiplying concessions to unions or opposition.
A firmness justified by the idea that it will be very difficult to debate the text once in the Assembly, because of the systematic opposition that the left is preparing to lead in the Chamber. But this position contrasts with that of Matignon. On January 10, while also highlighting the character ” fair ” of the reform, Ms Borne had pointed out that “This presentation is not an end point. We are ready to further develop our project. And this will be possible thanks to a loyal and constructive parliamentary debate”. The Prime Minister also referred several points to the discussion with parliamentarians, in particular the revaluation of small pensions, which Les Républicains have made one of the pledges of their support for the government project.
Complex dosage
Same declared desire for openness within the presidential party. “We will work within the framework of the parliamentary debate (…) to improve this reform. There will also be first leads during the executive office on January 30”, day of the start of the examination of the text in committee, indicated the secretary general of Renaissance, Stéphane Séjourné, Friday, January 13. Three points are likely to be retouched: hardship, family rights (quarters acquired by women who have had children) and the employment of seniors. The government presents this last subject as one of the goals of the reform, but its mechanical link with a postponement of the starting age, taken for granted at Bercy, is debated. “It is a necessary but not sufficient condition. We will position ourselves on the question of how we encourage companies to retain seniors”, explains MEP Pascal Canfin, responsible for relations with the government at Renaissance. The accepted proposals will, if necessary, be transformed into parliamentary amendments.
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