Several deputies of the group, including in particular Aurélien Pradié, reported certain disagreements with the government’s project, even if the executive granted several requests from LR.
When unveiling the pension reform, Elisabeth Borne brushes in the direction of the hair her ally of circumstances. The Prime Minister multiplies the gestures towards the right. Without it, the relative majority cannot have its text adopted by the National Assembly, unless it uses article 49, paragraph 3 of the Constitution.
From then on, the head of government chained the calls of the foot, repeating several times “I think of the Republicans” as she lists the various provisions of the reform. The dikes seem to be falling one after the other.
Starting with the postponement of the legal age to 65, wanted by Emmanuel Macron but deemed “too brutal” by Éric Ciotti, despite the similar commitments of François Fillon then Valérie Pécresse.
“These 65 years have never been an end in themselves”, explains Élisabeth Borne at the start of her speech.
As a result, “the legal retirement age will be gradually raised by 3 months per year to reach 64 in 2030.”
Small pensions, parental leave…
A first point granted to the Senate, whose majority on the right has been voting for several years for an amendment consisting in raising the legal age to 64 years. But also to accelerate the Touraine reform, which provides for a gradual increase in the contribution period.
Green light from Elisabeth Borne on this subject. “We will not go further than the 43 years of contributions […] but we will reach this target faster, moving to a quarter-per-year pace. We will be 43 years old in 2027”, explains the head of Matignon.
That’s not all. It is also a question of reassuring the most reluctant LRs to the government’s pension reform. Among them, Aurélien Pradié. Candidate at the congress of his party in December, he had campaigned against a postponement of the legal age to 64 years. Invited by LCP on Monday, the Lotois set his “red lines”: that the number of annuities paid takes precedence over the legal departure age so as not to penalize those who started working early; increase the value of small pensions, including for current retirees; take parental leave into account in the contributions.
What does Elisabeth Borne say? On the first point first, the Prime Minister puts forward a “fair system” allowing “those who started working early to leave earlier”, highlighting improvements for long career systems.
“For those who started between 16 and 18 […] retirement will be possible from the age of 60 and those who started between the ages of 18 and 20, it will be from the age of 62.
“Where is the justice?”
Then, Elisabeth Borne announces a revaluation of small pensions to 85% of the net Smic, which represents approximately 1200 euros net and an increase of 100 euros per month. She also indicates that she “decided to integrate” into the project “the revaluation of the pensions of current retirees for all those who have a full career at the level of the Smic”. Last reconciliation with the right: parental leave will be taken into account.
Ball in the camp of the Republicans now. The right “is satisfied to have been heard”, told the press Olivier Marleix in stride. This Wednesday, Bruno Retailleau, boss of the LR senators, explains on France Inter that he “does not see how” his party “cannot vote” a reform which he “has been calling for for years”.
Successful bet for the executive? Not so fast. At the same time, Aurélien Pradié is on Sud Radio. For him, the account is not there yet. “Those who worked before the age of 21, and in particular at age 20, will be the big losers from this reform”. For them, “there is nothing, except the prospect of having to work one or two more years”, judges the chosen one who recalls his mantra: to give “the scoop [à] contribution period”.
At the microphone of BFTV-RMC, Xavier Bertrand, who had supported Aurélien Pradié during the first round of the LR congress, sings the same refrain.
“Where is the justice?” Asks the president of Hauts-de-France, judging that the government’s project penalizes the youngest who will have to contribute 44 years.
On the same line of this right defining himself as “popular”, Pierre-Henri Dumont notes on RFI “holes in the racket”. In her viewfinder, the fact that Elisabeth Borne did not say “explicitly” that the current small pensions “will reach 1200 euros”. “For the moment, there is a blur”, abounds Aurélien Pradié.
Balance of power
The current number 3 of LR also wants to “go further” on parental leave. “We have to look at how we can revalue the quarters once you have [des] children,” he said.
For LR, often described as a “government crutch” by the other oppositions, it is a question of leaving an important mark on this text by influencing the government’s position as much as possible. With the arrival of the song sung by Bruno Retailleau this Wednesday on France Inter. The reform, “it is not us who are going to vote it, it is the government who will vote for the reform that we have been proposing to the Senate for several years”, he boasted.
For the moment, the executive does not bite the bait and displays its firmness. Questioned at the end of the Council of Ministers concerning the annuities for the youngest, Olivier Véran replied: “What is not negotiable is the balance in 2030 […] However, today the fact of asking French people to work a little longer is the essential corollary to the objective which is ours: to balance the pension system.
