How to initiate pension reform? Emmanuel Macron will meet next week with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne the leaders of the majority and the ministers concerned to take stock, announced this Saturday the entourage of the head of state.
At the end of a Friday lunch between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, “all options remain on the table”, assures the presidential entourage to AFP, while the reform divides within the very heart of the majority.
The scenario of a government amendment to the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS), which will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday, divides the presidential majority.
“The President of the Republic will meet next week with the Prime Minister the ministers concerned and the leaders of the majority on the issues and the need for this reform”, adds this source without further details.
Emmanuel Macron should on this occasion “recall the fundamentals and put everyone in working order”, anticipates a member of the majority.
“This reform should see the light of day in the summer of 2023”
On September 12, the Head of State stressed to the press that this decision belonged to the government but that the reform could not wait.
Critics of the PLFSS option, including the Renaissance president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, believe it is necessary to take the time to consult and pass a bill next year.
“The president has always said that the reform would be done in consultation, but consultation should not be used as a delaying tactic by those who just do not want reform and who still will not want it in three months or three years. “, Underlines an adviser to the executive, in reference to the trade union world.
Élisabeth Borne, to whom Emmanuel Macron asked to “find the right maneuver” with Parliament, should for her part explain herself on Monday morning on BFMTV and RMC.
“The president and the head of government are aligned on a fundamental principle: this reform must see the light of day in the summer of 2023”, underlines one in the entourage of the head of state.
“The president considers that, like the deputies of his majority, he has a very clear mandate from the French to reform”, adds the same source.
The president of the MoDem François Bayrou, fiercely opposed to the PLFSS option, said for his part that he hoped on Friday to have convinced the executive to give up reforming pensions “surreptitiously”.
Thursday, before the parliamentarians of the centrist party, Elisabeth Borne urged the various components of the majority to “speak with one voice”.