Pension reform: Elisabeth Borne tries to close ranks

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire in Paris on Tuesday January 10, 2023. AP - Bertrand Guay

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2 mins

In France, the battle for pensions has begun.

After Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's announcements on Tuesday January 10, all the unions are calling for a first strike and demonstrations as of next week, January 19.

They denounce the postponement of the legal retirement age to 64 in 2030, and the acceleration of the extension of the contribution period.

To prepare for the battle, this Wednesday, Elisabeth Borne tried to close the ranks of her majority for an hour and a half in the Assembly.

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With our special correspondent at the Bourbon Palace,

A clear message addressed to the representatives of the Renaissance, Horizons and MoDem parties in Parliament.

It is Aurore Bergé, the patroness of the Renaissance deputies, who sums it up:

The duty of "unity", to use her words, to which she called us (Mme Borne, editor's note), but you have seen that in any case, on the one hand, she did not need to call us there to that we can spontaneously respond to it, and then the requirement once again which is to convey this message to all French people.

The government will notably be able to count on the party of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who considers the reform necessary in an interview with

magazine .

Laurent Marcangeli, leader of the Horizons deputies:

We are going to be fully behind the government to pass this reform.

It is a requirement today that we must have in order to be in phase with what we have said, in particular during the campaign for the election of the President of the Republic.

►Read again: France: Elisabeth Borne unveils her pension reform project

But already dissonances from the MoDem;

François Bayrou calls on the government to involve companies more through employer contributions.

Jean-Paul Mattei, president of the MoDem group in the Assembly, awaits a gesture from the government between now and the presentation of the text.

We have a time between today and January 23, so we will try to bring up certain wishes, or have certain details on certain subjects.

But the negotiations promise to be difficult.

The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, recalled this Wednesday morning on Franceinfo that the objective was not to increase corporate taxation.

►Read also: France: commotion against the pension reform project

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