Emmanuel Macron can’t wait any longer. Determined to relaunch a momentum that was unobtainable at the start of this second five-year term, lulled from one crisis to another against a backdrop of war in Ukraine and galloping inflation, the President of the Republic is trying to reconnect with the reforming posture that made his political identity and authority among his supporters. With a trump card: to put back on the job, as quickly as possible, the very sensitive pension reform, aborted during the first term and announced during the presidential campaign. Quit setting fire to the powder.
During a meeting with a hundred journalists from the Presidential Press Association, Monday, September 12 in Nanterre, the Head of State clarified his intentions and his desire to speed up. The government was already asking the French for more« efforts » to get through the energy crisis and the ecological transition – while promising to protect the most modest by extending part of the tariff shield. Emmanuel Macron is now working to prepare minds for a “painful moment” regarding a reform that “doesn’t please anyone”.
The executive intends to rely on the report of the Pensions Orientation Council (COR), unveiled by The worldto tear to pieces the idea that the deficits after 2023 will resolve spontaneously. “If we don’t reform, it’s not fair”, justifies an adviser to the Elysée. The postponement of the legal retirement age and the extension of the contribution period, deemed less painful for the middle classes, are the two scenarios under study. The whole will be accompanied by a system of discounts, taking into account long careers and fractured careers to mitigate the shock with regard to the “losers”.
Threat of social blockage
The threat of social blockage does not appear insurmountable in the eyes of the President of the Republic, who appeals to the reforming history of the CFDT. Laurent Berger, its secretary general, had ended up giving a chance to the experience of governance of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR), for the time being very confidential, and wishing for dialogue with Mr. Macron. But the pension reform remains a potential casus belli, in a context where the hardening of the text on unemployment insurance has already bristled the trade unions.
Anxious to go quickly, the Head of State does not rule out including 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, from the summer of 2023. An extremely tight deadline, while the consultations have not yet started. “If the government takes an abrupt, brutal age measure (…), there, I say it, there will be a very, very strong conflictuality ”warned Laurent Berger, on France 2, Monday morning. Before launching as a warning: “There is no serene debate by forcefully going through the PLFSS. »
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