It is not just the union front that is united on the pension reform. On Wednesday, the day after the presentation of the text by Elisabeth Borne, the three majority groups (Renaissance, Democratic Movement and Horizon) displayed their unity in a press conference at the National Assembly. They are “mobilized and united”, described Aurore Bergé, the president of the Renaissance group (ex-LREM). They are “fully behind the government”, outbid Laurent Marcangeli, the president of the Horizon group (the party of the former prime minister, Edouard Philippe). In short, confident.
“I’m not saying it will be easy, but I think it will be less hard than they say, predicts a MoDem deputy. On the ground, people do not speak to me spontaneously about the pension reform. And when we talk about it, people understand the need for reform. “The united trade union front – a first for twelve years – does not worry more than that: “Frankly, we met the CFDT, there are two sheets of cigarette paper between us and them”, continues the same. “I do not make bets, says, more cautious, Mathieu Lefèvre, deputy RE (Renaissance) of Val-de-Marne. We must not prejudge the training capacity of trade union centres, even weakened ones. »
Not even afraid
La Nupes, which promises hell to the government in the National Assembly, does not seem to impress anyone either. “We will see what will be the tolerance of the French to parliamentary obstruction”, asks, with a smirk, the already quoted MoDem deputy. The oppositions have “trapped themselves by promising this form of parliamentary guerrilla warfare”, assures Aurore Bergé. Finally, the bad polls of the reform are almost normal: the French did not know what would be in the reform. “I would like to know the state of opinion according to the announcements, I believe that it can evolve taking into account the search for social justice of the text”, believes Jean-Paul Mattei, the leader of the deputies and deputies MoDem .
In fact, the majority believes strongly that the “social advances” of the reform can help to pass the pill of the extension of the contribution period and the decline in the legal age. “The Prime Minister has been able to defuse a number of potential conflicts, such as with the minimum 1,200 euros pension for full careers, including for current retirees, on choppy careers, on the progressiveness of the implementation of the reform… There are advancements! “, explains Mathieu Lefèvre.
Not disruptive enough?
The famous question of the 1,200 euros minimum pension for a full career, including for those already retired (for “the stock”) was a request from Horizon in particular, but also from Les Républicains, to possibly vote for the reform . “I will be delighted that there are many of us to support this reform, ironically Paul Christophe, Horizon deputy spokesperson on the subject of pensions. The important thing is that the objective is achieved. It’s our philosophy at Horizon, and our ego won’t suffer! “We will still have to be careful that the right does not claim the social advances of the reform,” nevertheless privately mocks a centrist.
Of course, the various components of the majority reserve the right to amend the text on certain points. The MoDem is the most talkative: François Bayrou’s party would like to lower the retirement age from 67 to 65 without a discount for the smallest pensions and choppy careers. Also, the centrists would like to include a “review clause” halfway through the reform “in order to best adapt to future developments in the macroeconomic context”. Not enough for some on the majority left wing. “We are in the process of reforming the Excel table! », exasperated Patrick Vignal, deputy RE. “We lack an inventive spirit. I trust Emmanuel Macron to be disruptive but I would like him to be more so for this reform. »
Efficiency and pragmatism
The deputy of Hérault, would like a real reform on “the relationship to work, which gives meaning”: “This majority has the means to make a reform which goes down to the level of the corporations, almost to the individual level. “It smells good the universal points system, proposed in the previous failed reform of 2019-2020. “Oh! I didn’t say it, it’s you who make me say it! ” He is not the only one to be a little nostalgic: “We did not mourn the reform on points, which would have been a reform of equality and justice, in my opinion we solved the problem of the arduousness and we gave durability to the system”, implying without the need for a new reform every ten years.
At Horizon, the party of Edouard Philippe Prime Minister at the time “obviously we do not change our minds”. But Paul Christophe, rapporteur for the reform at the time, speaks of “another context this year”. “We can always want more ambitious reforms, but a good reform is a reform that succeeds,” warns Mathieu Lefèvre. Efficiency and pragmatism are always at the heart of Macron’s philosophy.