Paris (AFP)

Old political wolf, clever negotiator, the high commissioner for pension reform Jean-Paul Delevoye will enter the government, a logical promotion for this key figure of Macronie who is working to clear the ground since the autumn 2017.

At 72, the former Minister of Public Service (2002-2004) under Jacques Chirac will be in the front line to defend before Parliament the "universal system" of pensions wanted by Emmanuel Macron, after a second phase of consultation that will be launched Thursday and Friday at Matignon.

A task that will escape the Minister of Solidarities Agnès Buzyn, already mobilized on many fronts (bioethics bill, emergency crisis, budget of the Secu ...), when Jean-Paul Delevoye consulted social partners, elected and citizens for 18 months on this highly flammable topic.

"I almost went around France," joked with the AFP this colosse 1m93, dark eyebrows and ashen hair, shortly before the publication of his report in mid-July.

"A remarkable work" greeted at the end of August by Emmanuel Macron, who nevertheless questioned his main proposal, the introduction of a full rate age to 64 years. A disavowal?

"The position of Emmanuel Macron is part of the debate," retorts Mr. Delevoye in an interview with the Voice of North released Tuesday, pleased with the proof of "confidence" that represents his "appointment".

In July, the High Commissioner was reinforced by the postponement of savings measures (contribution period, haircut ...) that could scuttle his project. Previously, he had obtained the confirmation of the maintenance of the legal age of departure at 62 years, questioned by several ministers in the spring, which had pushed this "man of commitment" to put his resignation in the balance.

- "Great man-uvrier" -

Behind his apparent good man hides "a formidable man-uvrier", estimates a government source. "He has this ability to go for arbitration (...) to forget what does not suit him".

"When you sail, there are waves more or less high," Delevoye philosophized recently before journalists curious about his relations with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. "I do not absolutely fear storms but my ability to adapt the sails so as not to break the boat".

This "social Gaullist" claimed can be based on a long political experience. Mayor of Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais), his hometown for 30 years, deputy, senator ... The former livestock feed trader has also chaired the Association of Mayors of France for 10 years.

After his retirement at the end of 2015 of the presidency of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) to rally Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Delevoye was first entrusted with the reins of the nomination commission for the legislative elections d'En Marche!, thanks to its transpartisan character, illustrated by its support for a socialist to succeed him in Bapaume and which led to his exclusion from the UMP in 2013.

Then, in the fall of 2017, the titanic construction of pensions.

Surrounded by a "dream team", as he calls his team, the affable former mediator of the Republic is appreciated by unionists, seduced, like Dominique Corona (Unsa), by "a very round character, very affordable, who respects the people in front of him ".

For Frédéric Sève (CFDT), he managed to "show that a building that was said to be hallucinating, infeasible, was possible".

Already in 2003, another pension reform, that of civil servants, had revealed the negotiator's ability to bring unions back to the table after several months of conflict.

But in his position as high commissioner, this customary "digressions" to the point of being "sometimes a bit of a challenge", according to one of his interlocutors, also aroused impatience.

"More" we see, "the less we know," mocked the boss of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux, in April.

It remains to be seen whether his method will withstand Act II of the concertation and the mobilizations that promise against the reform. "It will rock" but "the important thing is to have a captain who holds the road", judged recently the LREM MP Corinne Vignon.

© 2019 AFP