Jacques Serais
modified to
9:21 a.m., September 20, 2022
After being swept away by the Covid-19 pandemic, the thorny pension reform is once again on the government agenda. Emmanuel Macron said Monday, September 12: he wants to relaunch the measure, and quickly. But how ? Because the government does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly. And, the presidential party is already split on the issue.
It is a sea serpent that divides the presidential majority. Should the pension reform be done as quickly as possible? And if yes, how ? The Prime Minister consults the members of her government. And she made an appointment with the heads of parliamentary groups on Wednesday at Matignon.
“It is a reform that is essential”
Could the reform be buried for the moment? This is the question that everyone is asking in Macronie. “It’s complicated!” Admits a Matignon adviser. Emmanuel Macron set the course last week: “It’s a reform that is needed”, according to him.
But now, the boss of the Modem, François Bayrou, who has 49 deputies in the hemicycle, an ally of Renaissance, said he was opposed to any forced passage. And since then, dissenting voices have multiplied even among walkers. There is room for the reform to come into effect in the summer of 2023. And there is the possibility for the executive to integrate it into the Social Security Financing Bill. But at what cost ?
Show a reforming will
Elisabeth Borne has no certainty of obtaining a majority on such an amendment. It would then have no choice but to resort to article 49-3 to pass the text without debate. An option that would sign the death warrant of the CNR, the National Council for Refoundation. Laurent Berger, the secretary general of the CFDT, threatens to slam the door in the event of a forced march reform.
But, does Emmanuel Macron really want to go to clash, in the midst of an inflationary and energy crisis? This is not so sure. “The specter of the passage by vote of amendments has everything from a trial balloon”, deciphers a ministerial adviser. As if the challenge for Emmanuel Macron was more to display his reforming will to better denounce the deadlock situation.