Pension reform: Laurent Fabius wanted to censor the law against the advice of other wise men

2023-06-03 12:56:31

Rarely has a legal decision been so awaited. On Friday, April 14, the nine sages of rue Montpensierin Paris, spoke out on the explosive pension reform wanted by Emmanuel Macron. Laurent Fabius and his colleagues finally validated the government’s copy for lack of violation of the constitution, except for a few social provisions including the “senior index” and the “senior CDI” which will be invalidated. So far, nothing had pierced the exchanges that had taken place within the Council.

This Friday, Le Point magazine revealed the tenor of part of the debates within the institution. Thus, Laurent Fabius, who chairs the Council, found himself alone against all during the decisive decision on the pension reform carried by Élisabeth Borne. The other eight Elders had, after reading the general report on the text provided by the lawyers of the Constitutional Council, seen them no major attack on the Constitution.

A common vision contrary to that of Laurent Fabius – the last to speak as tradition dictates – who wanted to censor the entire text. The weekly explains that no vote took place. “It was not necessary, he was alone in his position,” confides one of the Sages to the newspaper. “Fabius wants to mark history with his passage”, speculates one of the Sages to explain his solitary crusade.

Frosty relationship between Fabius and Macron

Since the start of the sequence on the pension reform, Laurent Fabius had always expressed – via indiscretions in the press – at least his vigilance on the file. The Prime Minister had thus explained as early as January that the government was going to ensure that the reform was “constitutional”.

Laurent Fabius already had in his sights the creation of an “index” to measure the employment of seniors: “Anything that is outside the financial field can be considered as a budgetary rider” and censored, according to his remarks reported by the Canard Enchaîné at the time. “We are well aware that there is a Constitutional Council. We will look carefully at the measures that we ensure that they comply with the Constitution. (…) When we prepare a text, we ensure that it is constitutional”, assured Élisabeth Borne.

The positioning of Laurent Fabius, during the decision of April 14, ultimately only confirms the icy relationship, tinged with mutual mistrust, between the head of the institution and the head of state. “If Laurent Fabius has the opportunity to put a bullet between the eyes of Emmanuel Macron, he will not deprive himself of it”, swayed a regular at the Élysée at the Parisian last March.

“Faced with governments that are trying to bring judges under their belt, there is no other response than to repel the serious attacks against the independence of justice and freedoms, and to unite”, recalled Laurent Fabius, President of the Constitutional Council May 10. He was referring to the legal and political situation in Israel, but these words spoken publicly undoubtedly had another echo on the side of the Élysée.