- The government's pension reform project has passed before a special committee in the Assembly since Monday. The deputies must examine each of 22,000 amendments and 65 articles.
- This Thursday, the day of mobilization of opponents of the text in the street, 20 Minutes attended the work of the special committee of the National Assembly.
- Exchanges were often tense, as since the beginning of parliamentary work, between deputies of the majority (LREM and MoDem) and elected representatives of the left (socialists and rebellious).
"What contempt!" "Don't bother screaming!" It took barely an hour this Thursday morning for the first clash between two members of the special committee charged with examining the government's pension reform. It is in a slightly gray room of the Palais-Bourbon that the future of your retirement is partly played out. The mission of this body: to examine each article of the text and all the amendments tabled by deputies, before the bill is discussed in the hemicycle on February 17. This stage turns into a showdown between the majority and the left opposition which wants to block the reform.
While opponents of the government's plan are marching again and going on strike across the country, the deputies attack, as of 9:30 am this Thursday, article 4 of the text, which includes the self-employed - lawyers, doctors… - in the future “ universal system ”. In the preamble, the president of the commission, MP LREM Brigitte Bourguignon warns: "we have examined 1,045 amendments, we have 19,493 left".
Repetitive mechanics
The day before, work started at 9:30 am and ended around midnight. This morning, the room takes time to wake up. Except Clémentine Autain, MP for La France insoumise. To block the reform, each of the 17 deputies from Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party tabled hundreds of amendments, proposing to delete the bill, paragraph by paragraph. It is the elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis who is sticking to it today to defend these deletion amendments.
Regarding the self-employed, she cites for example the case of lawyers, on strike against the reform, "whose contribution rate will increase". The co-rapporteur of the text, Nicolas Turquois (MoDem), sweeps each amendment with a laconic "unfavorable" opinion, before the LREM deputies, majority, raise their hands to reject each rebellious amendment. Elected leftists no longer even bother to raise theirs to defend their proposals.
The mechanics are installed. A MoDem MP flips through Le Figaro . From time to time, the walker Jacques Marilossian apostrophe the rebellious, punctuating their speaking of "You haven't read it!" (Impact study), or launching page numbers of the document. Most elected officials watch the bullets pass. In a quarter of an hour, amendments 3.526 to 3.644 were passed. "We are moving quickly anyway," smiles a member of the majority.
"Obstruction" of rebellious, "round back" of walkers
But maybe not fast enough for the majority. "I think we missed an amendment, the one that wants to delete paragraph 11 and a half ...", advises Nicolas Turquois, joker. "It's ridiculous, we're not going to delete each paragraph, each word," he continues, a little exasperated. "It's obstruction, we have the demonstration," denounces at the coffee break Céline Calvez, LREM MP for Hauts-de-Seine.
Will doctors' pensions go down, and that of caregivers? A dialogue of the deaf sets in: to each question of the rebels, the Secretary of State in charge of the reform, Laurent Pietraszewski, refers to the impact study, or the consultations in progress. "The only demonstration that you are doing is that you are not ready," annoys Boris Vallaud, Socialist deputy of the Landes. "Stop answering us, we'll see later. If you are not ready, withdraw your project! "
"The level of government unpreparedness is staggering," says Clementine Autain. “And the LREM deputies are sluggish. Looks like they're waiting for it to pass. Or they were told not to speak because they are afraid of MPs' blunders, ”she attacks.
A clash of farmers
Article 4 was adopted. The next one is devoted to farmers and will spark the first cries of the morning. Nicolas Turquois is indeed surprised that the rebellious have not tabled a single amendment to this article. "You are completely grounded, we are tabling amendments on each paragraph," retorts Alexis Corbière, deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis. "I suggest that the rapporteur go to drink a little coffee, because he seems tired!" "
"I suggest that the rapporteur go to drink a little coffee because he is a little tired", says @alexiscorbiere
> @BrigBourguignon tries to reframe the debate # Retraites #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/OXCoUtcgfX
Brigitte Burguignon tries to calm the game: “we are not going to start talking in this tone! And we are not tired ”. Pain lost, the co-rapporteur Olivier Véran says he prefers "rebellious France to insolent France" and makes Alexis Corbière jump. "No need to scream," returns Olivier Véran.
However, on the merits, Nicolas Turquois will make the only concession of the morning to the rebellious: "I share your concern about the fate of the spouses of farmers, but I am against your amendment".
Two articles adopted in three hours
Suddenly, a dramatic blow: the Minister of Justice has just announced to the press that there would not be, by 2029, an “increase in pension contributions” for lawyers, on strike for a month against reform of their autonomous regime. "What contempt for the special commission!" So we don't deserve to have this information? “, Gets carried away Ugo Bernalicis, elected rebellious of the North.
At the end of the morning, another sensitive subject pointed the tip of his nose, the arduousness. "It must be taken into account better, pleads UDI deputy Thierry Benoît. I consider that the parliamentarians, in their entirety, strive to show humanity in their work ", he quips in reference to the sentence of Emmanuel Macron after the vote of his troops on the parental bereavement leave .
Lunch time is approaching, the session is suspended. In three hours, the committee adopted two articles and barely tackles article 6 of the text, on civil servants. He has 60 left to examine. But Céline Calvez hopes: "this weekend it will go faster, there will be fewer people".
Society
Pension reform: Opponents back on the streets this Thursday
Justice
Pension reform: "We have this image of the wealthy which does not at all correspond to reality", denounce the lawyers
- LREM
- France rebellious
- National Assembly
- Pension reform
- Retirement