Despite the opposition of the unions, the Head of State hopes that the pension reform comes into force in the summer of 2023, as he announced in early June.
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Emmanuel Macron can no longer wait. Determined to relaunch a dynamic not found at the early days of this second five -year period, lulled from one crisis to another against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and galloping inflation, the President of the Republic tries to reconnect with the reforming posture that made His political identity and authority among his supporters. With a master card: put back on the profession, as soon as possible, the very sensitive pension reform, aborted during the first mandate and announced during the presidential campaign. Even if it means setting fire to the powder.
During a meeting with a hundred journalists from the Association of the Presidential Press, Monday September 12 in Nanterre, the Head of State specified his intentions and his desire to accelerate. The government already demanded French more “efforts” to cross the energy crisis and the ecological transition – while promising to protect the most modest by extending part of the price shield. Emmanuel Macron now sets out to prepare the spirits at a “painful moment”, with regard to a reform that “does not please anyone”.
The executive intends to rely on the report of the pension orientation council (Cor), unveiled by Le Monde, to put into pieces the idea that the deficits according to 2023 will be spontaneously resolving. “If we do not make the reform, it is not fair,” justifies an adviser from the Elysée. The postponement of the legal starting age and the lengthening of the contribution duration, considered less painful for the middle classes, are the two scenarios under study. The whole will be accompanied by a discount system, taking into account long careers and fractured careers to mitigate the shock with regard to “losers”.
threat of social blockage
The threat of social blockage does not appear insurmountable in the eyes of the President of the Republic, who calls for the reforming history of the CFDT. Laurent Berger, his secretary general, had ended up giving a chance to the governance experience of the National Refoundation Council (CNR), for the time being very confidential, and wishing dialogue with Mr. Macron. But the pension reform remains a casus belli potential, in a context where the hardening of the text insurance has already bristled the trade union organizations.
Anxious to go quickly, the Head of State does not exclude inserting the pension reform in the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) this fall. Whatever the legislative vehicle, as long as the reform adopted comes into force, as announced in June, in the summer of 2023. An extremely tight period, while the consultations have not yet started. “If the government takes an abrupt, brutal age measure (…), there, I say, there will be a very, very strong conflict,” warned Laurent Berger, on France 2, Monday morning.
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