Alexandre Chauveau and Alexis Delafontaine, edited by Juline Garnier 8:53 p.m., May 02, 2022

After the agreement reached last night with the Greens, the rebels are now trying to come to terms with the Socialists.

The discussions have taken a long time, because it is a question of agreeing on major issues, such as the place of France in the European Union, or the repeal of the separatism law voted last year.

Soon a white smoke in the sky of Paris?

At the headquarters of France insoumise in the 10th arrondissement, the Socialists and the Insoumis are trying to agree on the conclusion of an agreement for the legislative elections, which would sign a union of the left.

The two teams have been finalizing the final details since 10 a.m. this morning.

After a long lunch break at 4 p.m., negotiations resume.

"We are not going to settle all the points in the space of a few hours when it has now been ten years since we spoke to each other", annoys Pierre Jouvet, representative of the PS, justifying the duration of the exchanges. 

Seven hours of talks

The watchword is therefore: "We said we would meet in ten years."

But the big blockage is obviously the distribution of seats.

According to a rebellious negotiator, the Socialists are asking for 100, but we are offering 70. And for the occasion, Olivier Faure came in person to defend the interests of the PS, without pressure on the deadline.

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"We don't have a calendar prefixed with favorite dates etc. We are here because I really believe deeply that we can awaken hope together in this country", tempers the secretary general of the Socialist Party.

Seven hours of exchanges have already passed for the Socialists, while the Communists and the NPA await their turn.

An agreement, but at what price?

These long discussions are akin to bargaining for constituencies.

Basically, rebels and socialists agree on retirement at 60 or the Smic at 1,400 euros.

On the other hand, the PS will have to agree to major concessions.

The Socialists can speak of a renunciation on several subjects, first and foremost Europe, since the agreement provides for disobedience to the European treaties.

"We are not anti-European, but pragmatic", justifies a PS executive.

But it nonetheless represents a radical break with the doctrine and history of the historically pro-European Socialist Party.

From François Mitterrand to François Hollande via Jacques Delors or Pierre Moscovici.

It would quite simply be the first time that a government party would include in its program the non-application of the treaties.

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The other important concession is the repeal of the El Khomri law, a measure proposed by rebellious France and on which the PS has aligned itself.

A concession, because the law had been passed under the five-year term of François Hollande and by the government of Manuel Valls.

Finally, the agreement between the two parties provides for the repeal of the separatism law passed last year, a law which is an extension of the anti-terrorism laws passed again under François Hollande.

The Insoumis had unanimously opposed it.

The Socialists, themselves, had abstained.