The left won a first victory on Wednesday, November 20 in its offensive to repeal the much-maligned pension reform: its proposal to reduce the retirement age from 64 to 62 was adopted in the Social Affairs Committee, before its arrival in the 'Hemicycle on November 28. The text, presented by the group La France insoumise (LFI) as part of its parliamentary niche, was approved by 35 votes (those of the left and the National Rally), against 16 (coming from the ranks of the center and the right ).
The reform adopted in 2023 under the government of Elisabeth Borne was “democratically and socially unjust, and economically inefficient”argued the rapporteur (LFI) of the text, Ugo Bernalicis. The National Rally (RN), which presented a similar proposal at the end of October, but which the left did not support, voted for the text of La France insoumise. “It’s the same as ours, and we are not sectarian,” argued the deputy (RN) Thomas Ménage.
“Not serious”
The bill approved on Wednesday affects not only the retirement age (i.e. the Borne reform), but also the contribution period: this is reduced from 43 to 42 annuities, which also amounts to repealing the reform carried out in 2013 by the Minister (PS) of Social Affairs during the five-year term of François Hollande, Marisol Touraine.
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An amendment presented by the centrists of the Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (LIOT) group to preserve the Touraine reform was rejected. The socialists, who would have preferred to keep this 2013 reform, decided to approve the overall text despite everything.
The left claims to be able to carry its repeal proposal through to the end: after examining the text in the Hemicycle next week, it has already planned to include it on the Senate agenda on the 23rd. January, during a communist niche, then in second reading in the National Assembly on February 6, this time in a slot allocated to environmentalists.
Representatives of the government coalition warned against a text “not serious” or «irresponsible». “We have to be honest with the French: if this pension reform is repealed, they will certainly be able to leave at 60, but with a much lower pension”argued MP (Renaissance) Stéphanie Rist.
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