Pensions: "Emmanuel Macron must absolutely change his way of presiding," says Nicolas Baverez

Alexandre Dalifard 08h20, April 10, 2023

Is the France experiencing a democratic crisis? While the pension reform is in the hands of the Constitutional Council, which will make its decision on April 14 the day after the twelfth day of mobilization, France seems more than divided. Invited on Europe 1 Matin, the economist and lawyer Nicolas Baverez returns, at the microphone of Sonia Mabrouk, on the period that the France is currently experiencing, marked by protests and violence.

"A degree of mistrust rarely achieved"

"The Constitutional Council will also rule on something else, which is the referendum of shared initiative. And if he gives the green light, it means that we will live with pensions until the Olympic Games, which will not be a path paved with roses, "says the economist. Especially since there is now a social crisis with all the trade union forces opposed to the President of the Republic. In addition, for Nicolas Baverez, the France is experiencing a political crisis also called democratic crisis. "When we look at the attitude of the French, the citizens towards institutions and leaders, there is a degree of mistrust that we have rarely reached. And that's a democratic crisis. When mistrust sets in, this is where freedom or the Republic can be threatened, "warns the lawyer at the microphone of Sonia Mabrouk.

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The decision of the Constitutional Council is likely to have an impact and a significant impact. But concretely, it will have a double dimension, it will be both legal and political. "All supreme courts do both law and politics. So obviously, we will have this double dimension. That is to say, the mission of the Constitutional Council is to judge the law in relation to the Constitution. But supreme judges always do it according to a state of opinion," admits Nicolas Baverez.

A tougher reform at the exit?

On the other hand, the French may end up with a tougher reform at the end of the decision of the Constitutional Council. "As this is a budgetary procedure, we must be clear, the most legitimate measures are those that bring money. It is true that it brings the text back to its purely financial dimension," admits the economist. For him, by choosing a budgetary text, there is a risk that the Constitutional Council cancels a number of accompanying measures to pass social or financial counterparts.

A pile of crises

In recent weeks, the France has been marked by the revolt of citizens and a multiplication of violence in the processions. But concretely, has the country ever experienced such a crisis? For Nicolas Baverez, historian, "France has not experienced such a pile of crises since the Algerian war". "We have an energy crisis, a food crisis, a monetary crisis, the beginning of a banking crisis and then a major strategic crisis with Russia that has become an existential threat," he said. He points out that French leaders are dealing with a bundle of crises rarely known. "We must recognize that Emmanuel Macron, since he was elected President of the Republic, has always had a difficult and ineffective relationship with the sovereign functions. And, moreover, whenever there is a crisis, like the first with the Benalla affair, there is a real difficulty in managing it, "says Nicolas Baverez in Europe 1 Matin.

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However, if Emmanuel Macron decides to give in and listen to a significant part of the French, Europe and the rest of the world may think that the president's five-year term is over. "What is needed is to find an exit voice from above. The president must absolutely change the mindset of his way of presiding and in particular this centralization, this verticality that does not work and has never worked," he concludes.