This Friday February 17 at midnight, the text on pensions leaves the cauldron of the National Assembly to take the path of the quieter lands of the Senate, where it will be examined in first reading from Thursday March 2. The senators, like the deputies before them, are subject to the time constraint procedure, so they have a period of fifteen days to debate.
Whether or not the reform is adopted by the Upper House (and if it is not passed, the government can reserve the right to add the amendments voted by the senators that it has retained), it will then move towards the Joint Joint Committee (CMP). A body composed of seven senators and seven deputies. Their mission: to come up with a common text.
If they succeed, the law then returns to the hemicycles of the Assembly and the Senate, which meet at the same time to read the conclusions of the CMP. The text is then put to the vote. If the deputies, who have the last word, adopt it as is, end of story, the reform passes. Otherwise, the government can bring 49.3 before the Assembly to pass the law without a vote. Last option, if the law has not been passed at the end of the regulatory time of fifty days – therefore neither adopted nor rejected – the executive can implement it by means of ordinances.
So much for the scenario of a conclusive CMP. On the other hand, if senators and deputies do not manage to agree, it is off again for a round. The text returns to the Assembly for a new reading. In this case: either the government draws 49.3, or the Palais-Bourbon finally gives it its blank check. It then goes back to the Senate for a new reading. If at the end of the fifty days, the text has neither been adopted nor rejected, it can also be applied by ordinances. A scenario that makes the majority tremble…