Laxou (France) (AFP)

Edouard Philippe assured Friday evening that he was "absolutely not afraid" of carrying out the pension reform, nor "reactions", despite the demonstrations and strikes, during a debate with teachers in a high school near Nancy.

"I have absolutely no anxiety, I am absolutely not afraid of this reform and reactions. I say it very quietly," launched the Prime Minister, responding to a teacher who believed that Mr. Philippe held this public meeting "because we are on the street and you are afraid".

"I consider it important not only to see trade union organizations but also to increase direct exchanges", continued the head of government, who lent himself to the exercise of the debate twice, in Lons- le-Saunier and in Pau.

"There is a freedom to strike, there is a freedom to demonstrate. But there is also a desire to transform a current system which is neither fair, balanced nor even effective in tackling the transformations" of society , he insisted, stressing that "having a speech of truth saying + we will have to work longer +, it is not exactly easy".

In front of a hundred teachers gathered in the gymnasium of a high school in Laxou, in the Nancy agglomeration, and accompanied by the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, Mr. Philippe qualified "an opportunity for teachers" ongoing discussions to upgrade their compensation.

This revaluation is necessary to guarantee the level of teachers' pensions in the future pension system. Negotiations between the unions and Mr. Blanquer began on Friday morning and are expected to be completed next summer.

"To proceed in a credible manner, we need a multi-year programming law which fixes progressive steps" in this revaluation, said the Prime Minister, confirming a total effort of "roughly around" 10 billion d euros.

"We have ten years to gradually increase the salaries of teachers," he said, assuring that it was "obviously unfeasible" to do it "once, or even twice".

"If there is one sentence to underline, it is: + pensions will not drop +", for his part repeated Mr. Blanquer, confirming that "the increases" for the time being considered concern "especially the premiums" affected by teachers more than salaries.

"The revaluation, we will do it, and it will be verifiable in six months, after negotiation with the unions. And you will see the results in one, two, three years", added the minister

© 2019 AFP