Concessions, yes, but not to the point of going back. While the formation of a coalition in the National Assembly is still not in sight, representatives of the presidential camp seem ready to make a gesture of openness on an issue as symbolic as it is divisive: the pension reform, promulgated on April 14, 2023, which pushed back the legal retirement age to 64 and increased the contribution period for a full-rate pension for certain generations.
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The text can be improved, as François Bayrou reaffirmed on Sunday 1is September, on LCI. The president of the MoDem, close to the head of state, thus extends a helping hand, in the hope of contributing to a rapprochement with political forces opposed to Emmanuel Macron. But this apparent desire for co-construction is subject to strict conditions.
Among the supporters of the tenant of the Elysée, Mr. Bayrou is one of those who pleads most ardently for a rewriting of the law of April 2023. The centrist leader is, in fact, convinced that “best settings” must be found. If such adjustments were proposed “to the French with sufficient spirit of conviction and justice, (…) opinion would move”he assured, adding: “And if opinion moves, parliamentarians will move.” An allusion to the fact that the pension reform has aroused the hostility of a very large part of the population, in 2023. Today, within the National Assembly resulting from the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7, a majority of deputies are demanding the repeal of the postponement of the legal age, starting with those of the New Popular Front (NFP) and the National Rally.
“Rebalancing Strategy”
The situation can change, according to the president of the MoDem, but not at any price. It is out of the question to touch the 64-year rule, he clarified in substance on LCI. “We cannot not have a pension rebalancing strategy”he said, referring to one of the main objectives of the reform: a deficit in our pay-as-you-go system reduced to zero by 2030.
Several members of the Ensemble pour la République group, which brings together Renaissance deputies at the Palais-Bourbon, hold an identical discourse. If the law of April 14, 2023 is amended, such adjustments “must be carried out in compliance with the budgetary trajectory initially planned”underlines Marc Ferracci. The deputy (Renaissance) of the French abroad declares that the suppression of the two age measures included in the text (shift of the legal age and increase of the contribution period for several generations) “would cost 14 billion euros per year, at cruising speed” : “It is not reasonable to consider it”he considers.
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