French trade unions and opposition parties involved in negotiating France’s controversial pension reform have asked for "clarification" from Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who on Sunday said that returning to a retirement age of 62, down from 64, was impossible.
When he was asked about the possibility of rolling back the retirement age to 62 from 64, Bayrou said “no”.
The social partners involved in renegotiating the pension reform “know very well the numerical connection” between the retirement age and the deficit, he told on France Inter radio, pointing to the report commissioned from the Cour des comptes auditor showing the deficits of the pension system.
The international context – where France is planning a massive military investment to help Ukraine – does not justify taking on additional debt.
Weekly meetings
Bayrou has tasked social partners, who have been meeting weekly since the end of February, with finding a way to balance the pension system between spending and the deficit, and had promised that all options were on the table, including revising the retirement age.
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The opposition reacted immediately to his backtracking, particularly the Socialists, for whom the renegotiation was the main reason for not censuring the Prime Minister in several votes in parliament.
“François Bayrou's statements are completely unacceptable,” MP Arthur Delaporte said.
“We cannot have a prime minister who on the one hand says nothing is off the table, and on the other hand, a prime minister who uses the pretext of the war in Ukraine to reverse course.”
The leader of the hard-left France Unbowed Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on X that the about-face was a slap in the face – a position close to that of the far right National Rally.
Lack of trust
On Monday, the CFTC trade union requested “clarification” from Bayrou, and the CFDT, intends to ask the Prime Minister “if he confirms his remarks” at a meeting scheduled Tuesday.
Dominique Corona, deputy secretary general secretary of the Unsa union said the statement shows that the government “does not trust the social partners”.
The CFDT and CFTC will continue to participate in the weekly negotiations, while the CGT said it would put the question to its members.
Bayrou faces the threat of censure in the National Assembly, though for it to have a chance of success the Socialists would have to change course. For now, the party is aligning itself with the government, with whom it agrees on the gravity of the threat from Russia.
Bayrou has promised to submit any agreement that comes out of the negotiations to a vote in parliament.
(with AFP)
