the joint committee agrees on a common version of the bill

Deputies and senators reached an agreement on Wednesday March 15 on pension reform and Emmanuel Macron was to bring together Elisabeth Borne and several ministers in the evening on the eve of a decisive but still uncertain day in the National Assembly for his ultra-contested project.

“Through this compromise, they respond to the request of the French to build solutions for the country together”, rejoiced on Twitter the Prime Ministerwho partly plays his role at Matignon on this reform, while demonstrators marched again throughout France on Wednesday, although fewer in number than during the high point of the protest on March 7.

The seven deputies and seven senators – and as many alternates – meeting in the Joint Joint Committee (CMP) have agreed on a common version of this text which has punctuated the political and social life of the country since January. The Macronists and the right being the majority in this body, the agreement provides, unsurprisingly, for the postponement from 62 to 64 of the legal retirement age, denounced by the unions and the oppositions of the left and far right. .

The leader of the deputies La France insoumise Mathilde Panot denounced “an agreement that was already tied up” And “a lunar atmosphere, as if there were no social movement”.

The project, on which Emmanuel Macron is also partly playing his stripes as a reformer, must now be put to a vote on Thursday morning in the Senate, where the right and centrists should ensure him a victory, then in the afternoon in the Assembly, where the suspense remains.

The votes of the deputies of the right-wing Les Républicains party, themselves divided, are crucial for the presidential camp, which only has a relative majority in the Assembly. If an absolute majority was not guaranteed, the executive could be tempted to draw article 49.3 of the Constitution which allows a text to be adopted without a vote.

No 49.3 “at this stage”

Although publicly withdrawn on this file which will partly determine the rest of his second five-year term, the Head of State is following the negotiations as closely as possible. It was to bring together Wednesday evening at the Elysée the Prime Minister, the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt and that of Relations with Parliament Franck Riester.

“The President of the Republic is determined that we can go to a vote as the Prime Minister wishes. He wants to make sure that the conditions are met to go there”explained to Agence France-Presse his entourage.

According to a Macronie executive, “at this stage, we are not going towards a 49.3”, but it is not excluded. No decision is expected before Thursday, perhaps at the last minute. At the heart of the questions, the decision of several rebels of LR, led by the deputy Aurélien Pradié who conditions his positive vote on the registration without ambiguity of a maximum duration of 43 years of contribution for all workers.

A compromise was found in CMP on this crucial subject of long careers. But, by the very admission of the boss of deputies LR Olivier Marleix, there will always be certain workers who will have to contribute ” a tiny bit “ more than 43 years old, and some right-wing elected “will not wish to vote” reform.

“We tell you that with the accommodations in CMP no one will contribute more than 43 years. (…) It is actually a new lie equivalent to that of 1200 euros for all “, pointed out Olivier Faurefirst secretary of the Socialist Party. “The government’s amendment is perfectly hypocritical: in 60% of cases, it is the legal age that determines the actual retirement age (and therefore a contribution period of more than 43 years). »

“Until the last moment, there will be uncertainty”thus reports to AFP a government source. “It is better to have a 49.3 than no reform at all”estimated the boss of the LR senators, Bruno Retailleau.

Resorting to it would however be perceived as a very risky political gesture, likely to harden the movement, as several union leaders have warned. Using 49.3 also exposes the executive to a vote of no confidence.