François Bayrou will deliver his general policy speech to the National Assembly this Tuesday, January 14. In order to avoid censorship, he is seeking an agreement with the left, but Emmanuel Macron has kept an eye on the negotiations ensuring that neither the Prime Minister nor the left go too far.
12:30 – “We will see who is in support and who is in opposition”
A few hours before François Bayrou’s general policy speech, the president of the LFI deputies confirms the filing of a motion of censure following the Prime Minister’s speech, in the absence of recourse to a vote of trust. With this motion, Mathilde Panot wants to distinguish “who is in support of this government and who is in opposition” among the deputies. A message especially addressed to the rest of the left which has started negotiations with the government and is waiting to listen to what François Bayrou has to say before taking part or not in a motion of censure. Due to the position of the left of the PS and the PCF, and that of the RN which also says it wants to wait to decide, this first motion of censure against François Bayrou should, a priori, fail.
12:08 – Environmentalists disappointed with the negotiations… and ready to censor Bayrou?
Marine Tondelier is bitter after the indiscretions on François Bayrou’s plan concerning pension reform. She is ironic about The national secretary of the Ecologists now seems to be considering censorship of the government in the absence of an effective “suspension” of the pension reform as the left demanded: “The current state of discussions does not give us reason to consider anything other than the censorship. Marine Tondelier adds, however, “that it was necessary to negotiate” to try to be heard.
11:41 – Macron’s shadow on the negotiations led by Bayrou
If François Bayrou increased his discussions with the left to find common ground on pension reform, he could not forget the position of his own camp. The presidential majority was unfavorable to unraveling the pension reform, in accordance with the position of Emmanuel Macron, who closely monitored the negotiations led by the Prime Minister according to Poltico. “He is meeting to see if Bayrou is not going to go too far,” whispered a close friend of the Head of State to the media. The Head of State paid particular attention to the treatment and the future of the reform pensions and the agricultural crisis according to Politico and on these two points, among others, there were numerous exchanges between François Bayrou and Emmanuel Macron.
11:17 – What Bayrou plans for pension reform
According to information from Parisian and of RTLFrançois Bayrou pledged not to suspend pension reform during his breakfast with representatives of the majority. But he added that he was considering a social conference which would allow the reform to be amended in the coming months. The Prime Minister would thus have found a solution to respond, in part, to the demand of the left who wants to return to the reform without going against the ideas of his own camp, opposed to a suspension of the text and its effects.
10:46 – Bercy “wants to find an agreement and for things to progress” according to Fabien Roussel
Like Olivier Faure, the national secretary of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel decided to negotiate with the government about the future policy to be followed to avoid a new political deadlock. A position that he defended on LCI: “We made the choice together to discuss, to try to obtain, we had an attitude different from rebellious France”. And according to him, this strategy is likely to lead to an agreement since the Ministers of the Economy and the Budget have shown signs of openness. “We are pushing for concrete progress as much as possible for purchasing power, for work with pension reform. We will see what the Prime Minister will announce. If we discussed until late yesterday evening, it is because we want to achieve progress and they want to find an agreement and for things to progress,” declared Fabien Roussel.
10:17 – The PS seeks an agreement, but does not rule out censorship of Bayrou
The PS is more interested in finding an agreement with the government than in censoring the Prime Minister. The fact remains that Olivier Faure warned on BFMTV that “from the moment when |François Bayrou]seeks to please the extreme right”, the socialist left will not hesitate to censor him. The deputy refers, among other things, to the desire of a part of the government, that of the right, to toughen the immigration law passed a year ago or to pass a new one. “If they go back on the provisions censored by the Constitutional Council a year ago, then we will censor. […] Talking about immigration, I am in favor of it, continues Olivier Faure. But not at any cost. I do not agree to do [des immigrés] the scapegoats for all our ills,” added Olivier Faure.
09:58 – More than an agreement, Fabien Roussel wants “concrete”
Oliver Faure believes that an agreement is possible with the Prime Minister, but in the communist camp they are waiting for more than an agreement. Fabien Roussel says he refuses to focus on “semantics” and wants “concrete” particularly with regard to pensions and the suspension of reform, on LCI. And the boss of the PCF clarified that “the concrete thing is the tightest possible timetable so that we can announce to employees that they will be able to retire in 6, 7, 8 months”.
09:23 – The Bayrou government has received a proposal from the PS
After mentioning progress in the negotiations, Olivier Faure indicated on BFMTV that the PS had made a final compromise proposal to the government. A source from the executive confirmed to Le Parisien the receipt of a socialist proposal. The party boss did not, however, specify the content of the agreement, leaving it to François Bayrou to announce it during his speech in the event of acceptance of the agreement.
08:50 – The PS “a few hours away from a possible agreement” with Bayrou according to Faure
“As we speak, we have not yet concluded” an agreement with the government, indicated Oliver Faure, the boss of the PS, at the microphone of BFMTV. He adds, however, that the discussions fall into “what we call money time” and specifies “that between yesterday at 2 p.m. and midnight yesterday evening, things have progressed a lot and that we are perhaps a stone’s throw away, a few hours from a possible agreement. If the PS places the suspension of the pension reform during the negotiations, Olivier Faure recalls that this is not the only point discussed: He recalls that the socialists’ request does not stop at the suspension of the pension reform , other measures such as the elimination of teaching and nursing positions are discussed.
08:43 – The RN wants to wait before censoring
Does the RN intend to consider censoring François Bayrou? The hypothesis has obviously not been ruled out, as Jean-Philippe Tangy said on Public Senate: “If Mr. Bayrou announces things unacceptable to the RN, we can censor immediately.” The fact remains that the party does not seem to want to censor the government in a few days because it “refuses to pursue a policy of the worst”. “Censorship has consequences, it is not a gadget,” he added with regard to LFI which, according to him, abuses the parliamentary tool.
08:27 – LFI does not believe in the announcement of a “suspension” of the pension reform
If the PS has negotiated with the government, like the Ecologists and the PCF, LFI has always refused to initiate such discussions. A few hours before François Bayrou’s DPG, the LFI coordinator, Manuel Bompard, does not fail to throw barbs at the other PS forces, accusing them of a “totally astonishing form of naivety” and saying he does not believe in the hypothesis of ‘a “suspension” of the pension reform only this evening in the coming months or in 2026: “It’s an illusion”, he blurted out on RTL. And the MP added: “I want to say idiot trap suspension”.
08:13 – More exchanges between Bayrou and the PS before the speech
The policy statement is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Until then, new discussions could take place around the Prime Minister, in particular with certain left-wing parties. “There is no other meeting planned, undoubtedly still discussions” slipped the leader of the PS deputies, Boris Vallaud, on France 2 This morning. And the elected socialist warns that his camp “waits for answers” from the head of government “on the means of the hospital, of National Education, on pensions”. On this last point, which is at the heart of the negotiations, the PS demands “a new democratic meeting, this moment where we listen to the social partners and where we trust the parliamentary debate”.
08:06 – Environmentalists doubtful before François Bayrou’s speech
François Bayrou did not convince the Ecologist camp any more after several days of negotiations. “They give the impression of struggling, but in the end it’s meager,” judged the party’s national secretary, Marine Tondelier, to AFP. The representative of the Greens spoke by telephone with Ministers Éric Lombard (Economy), Catherine Vautrin (Labor and Health) and Amélie de Montchalin (Public Accounts) on Monday. Another environmentalist, MP Sandrine Rousseau, maintains her position regarding the vote on a motion of censure on BFMTV: “I still don’t have too many arguments” for “not voting for censure”. It remains to be seen whether all elected environmentalists will follow his example or not.
07:47 – The PS disappointed with negotiations with Bayrou on pensions
The PS spoke with the Prime Minister last night on the eve of the general policy speech, but the secretary general of the PS Pierre Jouvet deplored on BFMTV the absence of “significant progress” and “guarantee concerning the suspension” of the pension reform firmly demanded by the left. The socialist deputy for Eure, Philippe Brun, affirmed on the same channel that the government has finally closed the door to any suspension of the pension reform: “We are told: ‘No ultimately there will be no suspension , just a big discussion’.” A change of heart due to the fact that the Prime Minister was “caught by the patrol” located “on his right”.
07:19 – Bayrou negotiates until the last hour before his speech
François Bayrou wrote his general policy speech himself and in parallel with negotiations with all the political, economic and union forces. The latter were organized until the end of the day Monday: the Prime Minister received the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate at 5:30 p.m. and other members of his government received representatives of the left parties, in particular the ministry of Labor, Health and Prevention, to discuss the social security financing bill. But the discussions could continue this Tuesday morning since the speech is not scheduled until mid-afternoon.