Pension reform: the government draws 49.3

Text by: RFI Follow

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced this Saturday, February 29, before the National Assembly his decision to use article 49.3 of the Constitution to have the bill on pension reform passed without a vote.

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The question ran all week on political broadcasts: was the government going to use 49.3 to push through its pension reform project? Édouard Philippe ended the suspense. In the gallery of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister announced his decision to engage the responsibility of the government to have the text adopted without a vote.

It is a question of " putting an end to this episode of non-debate " with the oppositions and " allowing the rest of the legislative process to begin ", he declared in the cheers of the majority. Édouard Philippe clarified that the text on which the government engaged its responsibility was not the initial bill but a text enriched with amendments related in particular to parallel discussions with the social partners.

The use of 49.3 had been envisaged for several days in view of the stagnation of the proceedings . This Saturday, on the thirteenth day of the exchanges, the deputies examined only the eighth article of the project which counts 65. Almost 41,000 amendments were indeed tabled on this text, more than half of which come from La France insoumise which claims the withdrawal of the contested text in the street.

It is the first time that the majority resulting from the election of Emmanuel Macron uses this procedure considered as a form of brutality by the opposition of right and left. 49.3 was last used in 2016 by the socialist government of Manuel Valls to pass the Labor Law.

Denouncing a “ forceful passage ”, the left opposition immediately announced its intention to table a government censure motion, which however has no chance of being adopted. The right could also file one, but not common. They have 24 hours to do so.

The government prefers the brutality of 49-3 to debate. We are proposing a motion of censure to the opposition. #retraites

(With dispatches)

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• France
• French politics
• Edouard Philippe