When you meet the Prime Minister, it is useful to have something to say to her. It is armed with a fragile draft of internal compromise on the pension reform that Eric Ciotti met this Wednesday, December 21 Elisabeth Borne. The new president of LR explains that he “set” a series of “conditions” for the head of government so that the executive takes on the right, a pivotal group in the Assembly. The deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes thus rules out a “brutal” increase in the retirement age to 65 and advocates measures for small pensions and women.
This reform is the fire test of the boss of LR. His equation is complex, as he must reconcile opposites. The man must reaffirm the reforming voluntarism of the right without putting himself in the wheel of Emmanuel Macron. It must carry the voice of a united right, which has struggled until then to tune its violins. “We need convergence within the parliamentary groups, the two chambers and the party. This is the condition of our credibility”, assures the former president of LR Annie Genevard.
Postponement to 63 by the end of the five-year term
The succession of internal meetings of LR deputies is bearing fruit. Following a new interview on Monday evening, the outline of a synthesis is taking shape. Eric Ciotti and the boss of the LR deputies Olivier Marleix reaffirmed before their peers the need for reform to preserve our pay-as-you-go system. “It must be effective, fair and non-brutal”, launched the deputy of Oise. It is in the name of this last requirement that the group refuses to postpone the legal age of departure to 65 by 2032, as proposed by Emmanuel Macron during the presidential election. The measure would set the country on fire and risk not succeeding.
During the meeting, a compromise was reached on a postponement from 62 to 63 years by the end of the five-year term, with the prospect of a gradual shift to 64 years in 2031. All accompanied by an acceleration of the rise contribution period. “The rate of effort traditionally asked of the French is one quarter per year, confides a deputy at the forefront of the subject. We take up this political jurisprudence here.” The acceptability of the reform by the French is at this price. Just like its endorsement by right-wing MPs. Several deputies led by Aurélien Pradié did not want to hear about age measurement, a device deemed unfair for those who started working early.
Again, the lines move. Aurélien Pradié accepted Monday evening a passage to 63 years provided that the duration of contribution prevails over age. Clearly, those who started working at 19 could leave before age 63 if they have all their annuities. This idea received the consent of the participants. In this logic, the right wants those who started working early but grow up to 63 to be able to benefit from a premium. “We want to consolidate the value of work and not discourage those who want to work longer”, assures the deputy of the Vosges Stéphane Viry.
The Aurélien Pradié case
But divisions are never far away. Aurélien Pradié threw a chill at the end of the meeting. “64 years is niet”, he launched. “He saw that his compromise solution was working, so he wanted to stand out again,” laughs a deputy. Conversely, the deputy of Indre Nicolas Forissier wants his camp to clearly assume an age measure of 64 years, without hiding behind an obscure review clause.
It’s a little Christmas miracle. Despite these frictions, deputies and senators converge. The Senate voted this fall an amendment to the PLFSS providing for a postponement of the legal age of departure to 64 years and an acceleration of the Touraine reform on the duration of contributions. “I don’t see Ciotti different from us on pensions, confided a pillar of the Upper House on Tuesday. The 63 years of Marleix make it possible to be compatible with the Senate and not to scare certain deputies.”
The boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau believes that Elisabeth Borne is sensitive to the proposals of the upper house. In return, the Prime Minister recognizes that the Vendéen, with whom she spoke in private two days before the second round of the LR Congress, masters the technicality of the file.
Special diets and hardship
On the right, we do not want to lock ourselves into a single parametric reform. When you are less bidder than power, you might as well explore other avenues. LR intends to bring a series of social demands, such as an increase in small pensions, a better consideration of hardship or a lifting of the ceiling on the accumulation of employment and retirement. Another red line: the abolition of special regimes or at least their convergence with the general regime.
The government copy is expected on January 10. Eric Ciotti will then have to put into practice the political intelligence attributed to him. Supporter in 2021 of a postponement to 65 years, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes is closer to the reformism advocated by Emmanuel Macron than to the moderation expressed by some of his colleagues. Eric Ciotti is not at the group’s center of gravity today, he will have to be the man of synthesis. His authority as president of LR will weigh less than his art of diplomacy. “The LR group in the Assembly is uncontrollable”, sums up a strategist.
You will have to be flexible
The dissensions observed on the right also take on a strategic dimension. Eric Ciotti judges that a reformist speech is likely to bring right-wing voters who have gone to Macron back into the fold of LR. He stressed on Monday that LR was playing its credibility on this reform, the heart of its DNA. Others, like the elected official of Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont, call on the right to address the working classes as a priority. Hence the divergent positions towards the ambitions of the executive.
No question of being a naive crutch. Eric Ciotti reminded Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday of the lack of pension reform under the last five-year term and opposes him with demands on several aspects of the reform. Make the internal synthesis, without judging. Negotiate with the government, without kneeling. Eric Ciotti would be wise to stretch during the Christmas holidays. It will be necessary to be flexible at the start of the school year.