Paris (AFP)

Covid, employment, retirement ... Two months after his last meeting with the social partners, Emmanuel Macron will once again receive union and employer leaders on Tuesday at the Elysee Palace, for an overview of current affairs, has t - we learned Saturday from corroborating sources.

The eight leaders of the major trade union centers (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC) and employers (Medef, CPME, U2P) were invited to the Elysée on July 6 from 10:30 a.m., also in the presence of the Prime Minister Jean Castex as well as ministers Bruno Le Maire (Economy) and Elisabeth Borne (Labor).

According to the Elysee Palace, which confirmed the meeting on Saturday, it will allow "to discuss the solutions to be brought to the major challenges", citing as an agenda: "to build strong and sustainable growth", "to promote the ecological transition of the economy "," fight against economic inequalities and promote quality employment ", and" anticipate the demographic challenge ".

One of the union officials interviewed by AFP considers that this multilateral meeting follows on from the previous one, on April 29, on the theme of "social Europe" before the Porto summit in early May.

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Another union source, for its part, is counting on a "social conference" focused "on current events", with possible discussions on pension reform, put forward by the executive in recent weeks.

"Anticipating the demographic challenge", one of the themes exposed by the Elysée Palace, could provide the framework for such a discussion.

The President of the Republic had himself revived the debate during a trip at the beginning of June, affirming that his project for a "universal system" could undoubtedly not "be taken up as is", but that "nothing is n ' is excluded ", before pointing a few days later" a deficit of several billion euros ".

Unions and employers have since announced unanimously that they do not want a pension reform before the presidential election of 2022.

"There is no way for Tuesday there to be an announcement on pensions. Let's be serious!", Repeated to AFP the number one of the CFDT Laurent Berger on Saturday on the sidelines of the Economic Meetings of Aix- in Provence.

"We do not know if the (variant) Delta will resume. It is a real subject of democratic debate, let's do it within the democratic framework which is offered before us, the presidential election," he added.

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