LIVE - Pensions: the government "will not hesitate" to make requisitions, according to Clément Beaune

Europe 1 with AFP 12:22 p.m., March 20, 2023

The government "will not hesitate" to make requisitions if refineries are stopped by striking staff to protest against the pension reform, warned Monday the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune. "This is a decision of last resort, but as we have done previously, as we did in October, if it were necessary, we would not hesitate to do it to avoid an economic blockage and traffic in our country," warned the Minister of Transport on Franceinfo, referring to "punctual measures, refinery by refinery".

Information to remember:

• Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed that the pension system will be balanced in 2030
• Road and oil blockades took place this Monday morning in Brittany
• Strikes continue, especially in the air sector, where the general management asks to cancel 20% of flights on Tuesday and Wednesday at Orly and Marseille
• Due to the risk of "preventive purchases" of gasoline, the prefecture of Vaucluse has limited fuel sales in the department

In the immediate future, the government "takes anticipatory measures" with strategic stocks "at the highest level", said Clément Beaune, specifying that "as we speak, we are not at the requisitions". The seven refineries in France have repeatedly suspended shipments of fuels produced there since January.

Their employees did not want to shut down these huge industrial facilities, their restart being very heavy. But the passage in force of the reform in Parliament has changed the situation and the CGT announced Saturday the shutdown of the largest refinery in France, the TotalEnergies site of Gonfreville-L'Orcher (Seine-Maritime).

Industry Minister Roland Lescure had already said on Saturday that the government would take its "responsibilities" as "in the autumn" when it had requisitioned oil sites during wage strikes.

According to Clément Beaune, strategic stocks are at "a high level" and make it possible "to supply petrol pumps". However, there are "local situations that are more worrying than others", especially in the Bouches-du-Rhône, he acknowledged. In the Southeast, where some stations have run dry, "there have been phenomena sometimes difficult to explain, which I can understand because of stress" with influxes of motorists, he noted.

The prefecture of Vaucluse limits fuel sales in the department

The prefecture of Vaucluse decided Monday to limit fuel sales in service stations in the department, until Thursday included, in order to avoid phenomena of "preventive purchases detrimental to the proper functioning" of these stations. "Making stocks is creating shortages. The prefect of Vaucluse calls the population to civility and responsibility of each. It advocates citizen behavior, to ensure that the needs of all are met," she said in a statement.

"Throughout the Vaucluse department, the sale and purchase of fuels (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, LPG) are limited to 30 liters for vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tons and 120 liters for vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons," said the prefecture. This limitation "does not concern vehicles of public services or companies performing a public service mission".

"The sale and purchase of fuels (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, LPG) in manually transportable containers are prohibited (including jerry cans and cans) throughout the department of Vaucluse," added the prefecture. In Marseille, some stations were closed for lack of fuel, others were still open or waiting for refueling during the day, AFP journalists found.

Strikes: the DGAC asks to cancel 20% of flights on Tuesday and Wednesday at Orly and Marseille

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked airlines to cancel Tuesday and Wednesday 20% of their flights at Paris-Orly and Marseille-Provence (southeast), because of the strike movement of air traffic controllers against the pension reform. "Despite these preventive measures, disruptions and delays are nevertheless to be expected," the civil aviation authority said in a statement on Monday.

The cancellation rate is significantly lower than the 30% reductions in flights to Paris-Orly and 20% to Marseille requested for Monday by the authorities. Demands for traffic reductions have been almost daily for several weeks, mainly in these two airports where some air traffic controllers have joined the protest movement against the pension reform project carried by the government.

Road and oil blockades in Brittany

Several demonstrations to oppose the pension reform cause Monday major traffic disruptions in Rennes and elsewhere in Brittany, while a major oil depot is blocked in Vern-sur-Seiche, we learned from the prefecture and the CGT. A "dead city" operation was launched for this Monday in Rennes on social networks, especially students, while Rennes knows many demonstrations and also degradation, even violence, since the beginning of the protest against the unpopular pension reform.

"Many attempts to block traffic are underway on the ring road and its surroundings in Rennes," said the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine in a message sent to AFP. And to invite motorists who can postpone their trip "to do it". On the southern ring road, pallet lights block traffic, according to the prefecture.

Bruno Le Maire reaffirms that the regime will be balanced in 2030

The pension system will be balanced in 2030 thanks to the fight against fraud and transfers between branches of social security, repeated Monday the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire. Despite seven billion euros of "social support measures", "I guarantee that in 2030, the pension system will be in financial balance", assured on RMC / BFM TV the minister.

"The financing will be guaranteed so that in 2030 there is financial balance, either by the fight against fraud or by the transfer of the branch of accidents at work to the old age branch," detailed Bruno Le Maire, who spoke a few hours before the vote of two motions of censure in the National Assembly, the government having chosen not to submit the reform to the vote of the deputies.

The budget of seven billion allocated to accompanying measures is "generous" and "necessary", insisted Bruno Le Maire. "We will not reduce retirement pensions, and we will not increase contributions, therefore taxes of the French," he promised.