Paris (AFP)

The consultation on the pension reform will end "on December 9 or 10" and the government project will be presented "in the days that follow," said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Wednesday, "open to dialogue" but " more determined than ever ".

Talks with the unions and employers "will still continue a little under the guidance of the High Commissioner" pensions, Jean-Paul Delevoye, and "should end around 9 or 10 December," said Mr. Philippe at the end of the Council of Ministers.

Then Mr. Delevoye "will present the conclusions he will formulate at the end of this consultation and I will have the opportunity, in the following days, to present in its entirety and very precisely the project that the government will present to Parliament at the beginning of the year 2020, "added the Prime Minister.

"We will not compromise on the objective," he said, saying at the same time "open to dialogue" and "more than ever determined to build this universal retirement system", promised by Emmanuel Macron to replace the 42 existing plans.

The Prime Minister "listens" and "sometimes understands" the questions. "But that does not stop one second from being determined to bring this reform to a successful conclusion: I am not scarified, not paralyzed," Philippe said.

"The social dialogue continues," said Philippe, who listed the possible trade-offs: family rights, employment of seniors, hardship, job-retirement overlap, "guarantees" for certain officials such as teachers ...

"We were sufficiently criticized for the verticality so that we assume to take the time to discuss", he insisted, while the opposition accuses the executive to deliberately handle the vagueness on his project.

"We will take the time it takes to get there (...) In other words, universality, yes, brutality, no", he summed up, even to delay the entry into force of the reform beyond 2025.

In this regard, Mr. Philippe said at the same time hear "those who believe that 5 years of retirement (...) the change of system could be destabilizing". And "those who say that the so-called grandfather clause that would only apply the reform to new entrants on the labor market would not be ambitious enough."

"Between these two extremes, we must be able to find the right cursor," he insisted.

In the meantime, "some will express their opposition in the street on December 5", the first day of a renewable strike supported by most unions and opposition parties.

While affirming his "respect for the right to strike (and) for the right to demonstrate", Mr. Philippe assured that "the government will do its utmost to best support the French who want and who must work".

At the approach of this fateful date, the executive chained meetings: after a lunch at the Elysee and a meeting of the majority on Tuesday, a new appointment "calibration" is scheduled Friday in Matignon, according to a government source .

All ministers will then attend a seminar on Sunday to "set the road map" and "set the timetable beyond December 5", but also "review the plan to minimize the impact of the strike", especially in transport.

© 2019 AFP