This is a new important step, after a visit to the National Assembly which only allowed to fully examine two of the twenty articles of the text. The pension reform arrives before the senators, this Thursday from 2:30 p.m.
It is Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labour, who will once again give voice to present the text on behalf of the government, alongside the Minister in charge of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal. The stakes are high, both for the government and for the opposition.
More time for debates
The senators have 110 hours of discussion on the text, until March 12 at midnight. This is a third more than at the Palais-Bourbon in February, according to the right. Beyond the 20 articles in the bill, they will have to consider the 4718 amendments that were approved by the Social Affairs Committee of the Upper House.
The Senate must go “to the end” of the examination of the pension reform bill, pleaded Wednesday its president, Gérard Larcher, affirming in an interview with Figaro wanting to do the “maximum” in his power to achieve this. “If there were to be an obstruction, we would simply use constitutional means and those of our rules,” he also warned, considering however that the Communist and Socialist groups in the upper house would express “their disagreements ( …) with respect for the institution”.
The majority right
The right, the majority in the Senate, is rather in favor of pension reform, although it has already expressed some reluctance and points of vigilance, on “the situation of seniors” and “women’s careers” notably. It also expects clarification from the government on points that have become confused over the announcements and declarations, in the first place long careers.
“The government has an objective, the senatorial majority, demands. You have to bring all of this together. (…) The text that will come out will not be that of the government but that of the Senate”, warned Gérard Larcher. “We will support the text, but we will modify it”, also assured Bruno Retailleau, president of the LR group in the Senate, on RMC-BFMTV this Thursday morning.
The strategy of the left
The left, a minority, still intends to make its voice heard. But the strategy should be different from that adopted by Nupes in the National Assembly.
Communist, socialist and environmentalist senators want a vote on Article 7, which pushes back the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. “The French must know who votes and who votes what when it comes to their future”, estimated with the Parisian the boss of the PS group, Patrick Kanner. The left, however, wants the vote on this key article not to take place until the end of the day of mobilization on March 7.
The key measures
Before embarking on the examination on the merits, the senators will discuss two motions of rejection en bloc presented by the left, then, probably this Friday morning, a request for a referendum.
Article 7 of the law, aimed at pushing back the legal retirement age, is one of the most important. LR and centrists are in favor of this tightening of retirement conditions.
Among the amendments validated in committee and which will be discussed in the Senate, the one proposed by the right to set up a “surcharge” of pension for mothers who have a full career – a measure amounting to 300 million euros. “It’s a step in the right direction,” said Olivier Dussopt on RTL this Thursday morning.
The senatorial majority also offers a new CDI formula, exempt from family contributions, to facilitate the hiring of unemployed seniors. “We are a little more reserved on this subject,” reacted the Minister of Labor, still at the microphone of RTL. Still on the question of the employment of the oldest, the senators propose that the establishment of the index desired by the government only apply to companies with more than 300 employees, whereas this threshold had been lowered to 50 by MPs in February.
On the other hand, the rapporteurs in the Senate did not touch either the measures on long careers, or those on special regimes.