After the cauldron of the Assembly, the calm of the Senate. The executive can calmly anticipate the examination of the pension reform in the Upper House, expected in the hemicycle on Thursday March 2. The senatorial majority on the right supports the text and the left does not intend to obstruct. But a few clouds are gathering above this idyllic picture.
As at the Palais-Bourbon, the debates will be constrained in time. The government has chosen to have its reform adopted by an amending Social Security financing bill (PLFSSR), a budget text governed by Article 47-1 of the Constitution. Discussions will end on Sunday, March 12 at midnight, whether or not the review of the law is complete. Absence of vote with the Assembly obliges, the senators will decide on the initial text of the government. The senior index in companies with more than 50 employees, rejected by deputies, has been reintroduced.
“Our line is to amend and not to block”
The executive has a large majority to vote on the text. His reform – postponement of the legal age and acceleration of the increase in the contribution period – is inspired by a senatorial amendment voted since 2018. The boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau likes to repeat that the Prime Minister has joined his positions. The centrists, allies of LR in the Senate, are also in favor of it. “Our line is to amend and not to block”, summarizes Senator LR Hauts-de-Seine Roger Karoutchi.
The right intends to put its mark on the text. A distribution of roles has been found between LR deputies and senators. The former insisted on long careers, the latter will tackle family policy. Their amendments will relate to the cut careers of the women or the extension of the reversion pensions to the handicapped children. The senior index is not favored by the Upper House. The centrists want to replace it with a “bonus-malus” system, when LR evokes “more impactful measures”.
“Bruno is annoyed by the concessions made to Pradié”
The room for maneuver of the right remains limited. Bruno Retailleau judges that the government’s concessions threaten the balance of the reform. According to his calculations, between 7 and 8 billion euros have been released, out of the 18 billion that the text must release in 2030. “Can we ask the French to make efforts for a zero result?” he. “This reform must be useful,” agrees the boss of centrist senators Hervé Marseille.
Some senators observe with a suspicious eye the grievances of the deputies on the extension of the device of the long careers, carried by the deputy Aurélien Pradié. Too expensive. Will the senatorial right appropriate the group amendment tabled on February 17 by the LR deputies? “We will see if we take it as it is or if we modify it a little. Be careful not to burden the budgetary impact”, warns Senator LR and President of the Social Affairs Committee Catherine Deroche. “Bruno is annoyed by the concessions made to Pradié. He would not mind going back on one or two things to put in his gums”, laughs a senator.
LR deputies on their guard
These bickerings are not anecdotal. After the Senate, the pension reform will pass into the hands of a joint committee (CMP). Fourteen parliamentarians – seven deputies and seven senators – will meet in conclave to draft the final version of the reform. LR senators and majority parliamentarians dominate the body. They alone can find an agreement and make the CMP “conclusive”. Then charge the National Assembly to vote on the text resulting from the CMP.
Senators and LR deputies must therefore work together. “We will ensure that the text coming out of the Senate can be adopted by the majority of LR deputies”, assures Catherine Deroche. An LR deputy warns: “Be careful that the text does not come back to the Assembly harder than it was in its initial version. In this case, I would not bet on the final vote.” The Senate, a decisive step more than a point of arrival.