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Prime Minister Édouard Philippe at the conference of ambassadors of France in Paris, August 28, 2019. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

The French government is not abandoning its reform of institutions, one of Emmanuel Macron's campaign promises. Put aside last summer, because of the Benalla affair, this project, which comes in three laws, was presented this Wednesday, August 28 in Council of Ministers. But for now, no date has been set for its consideration by Parliament. The government knows that the Senate is still opposed to some of the measures it proposes.

No surprise in this reform . The main measures were already known: the decline of a quarter of the number of deputies and senators, the limitation to three identical terms in a row for the parliamentarians, the presidents of local executives and the mayors of the communes of more than 9 000 inhabitants and finally, the election of 20% of the proportional members.

The text contains some changes from its original version , which makes the executive say that the right has been heard. " We have demonstrated that we have the will to take steps towards the senators, " said Sibeth Ndiaye, spokesman for the government. A discussion must hopefully lead to a compromise. It's about each one taking a step towards the other. "

" A global agreement " with the Senate still to be found

But Gérard Larcher, the president of the Senate , camps on his positions. Out of the question for him that the number of parliamentarians decreases by more than 20%. The government therefore prefers to postpone the review of the reform.

" I think it would be wise to have a global agreement with the assemblies," says Nicole Belloubet, the Minister of Justice, in particular with the Senate on these various points before putting it on the agenda of the assemblies. And so, the dialogue will continue. "

Discussions should not be completed before the municipal elections. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe even relies on senatorial plans in September 2020, to move the lines.