Pension reform: Article 49.3 and the Fifth Republic, Act 100

Alexandre Dalifard 17:54 pm, March 16, 2023

This Thursday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne used 49.3 to pass the pension reform in the National Assembly. Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, this is the 100th time that this lever has been activated. This decision did not go unnoticed and the opposition quickly expressed its dissatisfaction and determination to oppose it. On the side of the unions, Laurent Berger announced "new mobilizations" against the bill. Marine Le Pen quickly announced that she would table a motion of censure against the government after the use of 49.3. The activation of this article has caused strong indignation and yet, this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has used it since taking office.

As a reminder, according to the government website, Article 49, paragraph 3, of the French Constitution provides that "the Prime Minister may, after deliberation of the Council of Ministers, engage the responsibility of the Government before the National Assembly on the vote of a draft law of finance or financing of social security. In this case, this draft is considered adopted, unless a motion of censure, tabled within 24 hours, is voted under the conditions provided for in the preceding paragraph. The Prime Minister may, in addition, use this procedure for another bill or a bill per session."

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Elisabeth Borne, silver medal

Appointed Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron on May 16, 2022, Elisabeth Borne quickly made use of Article 49.3. On December 15, to definitively and without a vote adopt the finance bill for the year 2023, the Prime Minister used this weapon 10 times. If 49.3 has been activated so many times, it is explained by the fact that the government has only a relative majority in the National Assembly and is in a minority in the Senate. That is a problem in getting bills through. The article therefore circumvents this constraint.

This Thursday, while the government had announced that its will was not to go through a 49.3 but by a vote, Elisabeth Borne finally decided to activate the article, to the great surprise of the oppositions. This is the 11th time that the head of government has engaged the controversial article. Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the Prime Minister is simply the second to have used the 49.3 the most, behind Michel Rocard.

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Michel Rocard, number one by far

Under the presidency of François Mitterrand, Michel Rocard served as Prime Minister from 1988 to 1991. During his tenure, the politician activated section 49.3 28 times, for 13 different texts. By activating this lever, Michel Rocard made it possible to adopt the law creating the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), finance laws, the reform of the status of Régie Renault (1990), the hospital reform (1991) and the military programming law 1990-1993.

If the Socialist has used this weapon so many times, it is because he only had a relative majority in the Assembly. Faced with the large number of uses of 49.3, the opposition to the Michel Rocard government tabled five motions of censure, all rejected.