PARIS (Reuters) – The French government hopes that the Senate’s examination of its pension reform plan will make it possible to restore article 2 of the bill rejected on Tuesday evening in the National Assembly.
The deputies voted against article 2 of the amending social security financing bill, which provides for the creation of a “senior index” in companies, by 256 votes against 203.
Wednesday morning on France Inter, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, said his “disappointment” to see thus rejected a “new tool” for the employment of seniors.
“Those who tell us ‘we must do more for seniors’ delete the index,” he lamented. “We will see with the Senate if there is a possibility of reinstating it.”
During the report of the Council of Ministers, the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, denounced a “political vote” and a “majority of circumstances”.
Thirty Republican (LR) deputies voted against this article 2, judging this “index” penalizing for small and medium-sized businesses. The left and the National Rally also voted against. Two Horizons MPs abstained.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, has given many pledges to the LR deputies, whose support is essential to vote for the pension reform while the presidential camp does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly.
Last concession announced Tuesday by the head of government: employees who started working at the age of 17 in the long career scheme will be able to retire at 60.
Cost of all “long career” devices: around 700 million euros, according to Olivier Véran.
According to their president Olivier Marleix, the LR deputies are mostly in favor of the pension reform as a whole.
“There is still the need for the LRs to show that they are not in the majority, hence the symbolic vote against article 2”, analyzes a government source.
The examination of the text in the Assembly must last until Friday midnight. Only 2 articles out of 20 having been debated, there is no chance that the whole of the text will be examined, but the trade union leaders and numerous deputies hope that article 7, which contains the measure-phrase of a postponement of the legal retirement age of 62 to 64, will be voted on.
The text will then be examined by the Senate, with a majority on the right.
A fifth day of strikes and demonstrations is scheduled for Thursday across the country at the call of all the trade unions, which also plan a day of action on March 7, when the text will be debated in the chamber. high.
Olivier Dussopt said he was convinced that this unpopular reform would be passed by Parliament, without recourse by the government to article 49.3 of the Constitution which allows the adoption of a text without a vote.
“The Prime Minister has always been clear, so have we: we consider that we have a majority on this text. But to have a majority you have to go to the vote and to go to the vote you have to put an end to the obstruction”, did he declare. “We want to get to the bottom of things and debate.”
Thousands of amendments have been tabled to the text, notably by La France insoumise, which also accuses the government of obstruction.
(Report Elizabeth Pineau and Camille Raynaud, edited by Blandine Hénault and Tangi Salaün)
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