One month before the first round, President-candidate Emmanuel Macron is distiling elements of his program in dribs and drabs that he could unveil at the end of next week, according to his entourage.

The head of state was to evade the campaign Thursday and Friday the time of a European summit in Versailles devoted to the war in Ukraine.

The meeting is honored by the deployment of the European flag under the Arc de Triomphe, a recurrence of December 31 ardently criticized by supporters of the nation like Eric Zemmour or Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.

After the abolition of the audiovisual license fee on Monday, it was his proposal to raise the legal retirement age - 62 years old currently - which was debated the day when the CFDT union, very advanced on this file, interviewed presidential candidates.

The theme of pensions, coupled with that of purchasing power, has been a particularly sensitive subject since the social crisis of the yellow vests (2018-2019) and the major union demonstrations against the reform in the fall of 2019.

If he is re-elected in April, the Head of State aims to relaunch this vast pension reform which he had to suspend and then cancel in the midst of the Covid crisis.

The "work more"

It is "a choice of society", with the need to "finance protection for the French and invest for (them)", without increasing taxes, and therefore by "working more", summed up the door- word of the Gabriel Attal government, taking up one of the candidate's campaign themes in his "Letter to the French".

Concretely, Mr. Macron proposes a gradual extension by "2032" of the retirement age to 65, "a minimum pension of 1,100 euros" for full careers, and the "abolition of the main special schemes ".

The boss of the first French union, Laurent Berger, denounced during a press briefing at the CFDT an "unfair" and "brutal" measure that the confederation intends to "fight".

The secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, on April 29, 2021 in Paris Ludovic MARIN AFP / Archives

Mr. Macron is not the only one to want to push back the retirement age.

On the right, the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse also pleads for 65 years, and on the far right, Eric Zemmour wants to bring it to 64 years old.

Marine Le Pen speaks of a retirement at age 60, but which she reserves for those who entered working life very young.

"Retirement at 65 is deeply unfair," she said, explaining that "a maximum number of people will never reach retirement".

Same opposition on the left, the leader of rebellious France Jean-Luc Mélenchon displaying his "absolute disagreement".

"I am for retirement at 60," he recalled on RMC.

Socialist Anne Hidalgo denounced "fundamental hypocrisy", while ecologist Yannick Jadot spoke of an "extremely unfair" measure wishing on the contrary to put hardship back at the heart of the pension system.

Presidential candidate Yannick Jadot, March 9, 2022 in Paris EMMANUEL DUNAND AFP

For Ian Brossat, spokesman for the communist candidate Fabien Roussel, it is "an antisocial and cruel proposal for people who have arduous jobs".

Pécresse vs Zemmour

Neck and neck in the polls, Valérie Pécresse and Eric Zemmour clash during a debate Thursday evening on TF1 and LCI, hoping to appear again able to qualify for the second round.

Ms. Pécresse will participate earlier Thursday in Paris in a meeting of the European right (EPP), on the sidelines of the summit of EU leaders.

Presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse, March 9, 2022 in Paris EMMANUEL DUNAND AFP

This first televised face-to-face could be decisive because the challenge is for everyone to relaunch a campaign paralyzed by the war in Ukraine.

Especially since both are experiencing a drop in the polls: Valérie Pécresse is given around 11 to 13%, Eric Zemmour from 11% to 14%, a stone's throw from Marine Le Pen (17-18%) and far behind Emmanuel Macron (around 30%).

The reasons for the dropout are different: shaken by a bad start at the Zenith on February 13, Valérie Pécresse spent a lot of time summarizing the different sensibilities of her own camp and is struggling to create a dynamic against the president-candidate.

The former polemicist is penalized for his remarks deemed pro-Russian or his positions on Ukrainian refugees who have drawn criticism even in his team – he has since qualified this last point.

Presidential candidate Eric Zemmour on March 9, 2022 in Paris EMMANUEL DUNAND AFP

Will the debate be decisive?

The two candidates have an interest in this media exposure, Valérie Pécresse because being "inaudible, she must be present", and Eric Zemmour because he is skating in the polls, despite the rallying of the niece of Marine Le Pen , Marion Maréchal, reports to Mathieu Gallard of Ipsos.

© 2022 AFP