Another high-risk week. After presenting the pension reform to the French, then to the Council of Ministers last week, Elisabeth Borne resumes the political marathon this Monday, January 30, because the text arrives today before the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. Tomorrow, Tuesday January 31, a new day of mobilization against the bill is planned and it already promises to be very popular.
Since the announcement of the measures, the unions have been asking for the cancellation of the postponement of the retirement age, set at 64 by the government. A point on which neither Emmanuel Macron nor Elisabeth Borne intend to back down, as explained by the tenant of Matignon this weekend. Questioned by France Info, she decided: “It is no longer negotiable, retirement at 64 and the acceleration of the Touraine reform”. “This is the compromise that we proposed after having heard the employers’ organizations and trade unions, after having exchanged with the various parliamentary groups (…) It is necessary to ensure the balance of the system”, added the Prime Minister, recalling : “Our objective is to ensure that in 2030, we have a balanced system”.
“If we had only one parameter, then it wouldn’t be 43 years of contribution and 64 years to be able to retire, it could be 45 years of contribution period, which seems impossible to us to ask the French “, concluded Elisabeth Borne with France Info. The executive is therefore inflexible, when he knows he has lost the battle of opinion, but will he be ready to let go of ballast on certain points? He may have to, when 7,000 amendments will be considered from today and over the next three days. According to information from Le Parisien, the government is ready to make concessions on certain changes.
Elisabeth Borne worked on possible concessions all weekend, according to Le Parisien, and the government could actually back down on certain points, after “simulations”. A first adjustment could concern the quarters granted at the birth of a child: currently, four are automatically granted to the mother and four others can be distributed between the two parents, because they relate to “education”. On France info, Elisabeth Borne explained: “As of today, there are many women who cannot use them to the full. We are analyzing the situation”.
The pension reform will not support any new expenditure. Quoted by Le Parisien, the Ministry of the Economy explains: “If we let go of a measure, we will have to seek savings elsewhere in the reform. We must remain at all costs within the 8 billion in general savings planned to allow the system to regain its balance. Calculations of apothecaries which are important, since the government wishes that the measures can be “registered within the framework of the amending finance bill for Social Security”.
