Barely had the victory of the New Popular Front in the early legislative elections been proclaimed, when the first masks fell. Asked about the repeal of the pension reform, one of the flagship measures of their program, the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, declared on Monday July 8 on Franceinfo: “What was done by 49-3 can be undone by 49-3”. In March 2023, Elisabeth Borne had activated this article of the Constitution to have the text adopted, which raised the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, without going through the agreement of Parliament. The leader of the Socialists believes that “in this case, it would be a parallelism of forms”.
This legislative step backwards is in any case written in black and white in the program of the alliance of left-wing parties, with an application within 15 days following the election. Jean-Luc Mélenchon has already given the path to follow during his post-election speech – the first given by a political figure on Sunday evening. The leader of La France Insoumise affirmed that the Prime Minister who would be designated by the NFP could govern “by decree without a vote”. Among the first actions: increase the minimum wage to 1,600 euros net and… repeal the pension reform.
The decree must not distort the law
But what is the reality? “The hard core of the reform can only be challenged through legislation,” says Alexandre Viala, professor of public law at the University of Montpellier. In other words, the future tenant of Matignon would not be able to repeal or modify the various implementing decrees of the pension reform adopted in 2023 as he wishes. “The implementing decrees must be consistent with the law voted in Parliament. If there is a new law, new decrees will be needed in terms of content,” assures political scientist Michel Verpeaux. The pension reform came into force on September 1st. Since then, the retirement age has been gradually raised, by three months per generation, to reach 64 in 2030. The 1968 generation will be the first to retire at 64.
Legally, it is entirely possible to repeal a law. “The legislator can undo it by virtue of parallelism,” confirms Alexandre Viala. However, it will be necessary to present a new text and go through the classic stages of shuttling between the National Assembly and the Senate. A journey that promises to be tumultuous to say the least. Before Olivier Faure’s statements, it would have been difficult to imagine that the left would resort to Article 49-3, after having decried it so much in the ranks of the Assembly since 2022. Without this weapon, it would be necessary to obtain the majority of 289 deputies to pass the law. “In political terms, the operation seems quite complicated to me. It would require an objective, not to say baroque, alliance between the NFP deputies, whose program contains this repeal, and the RN deputies who are the only ones to also demand it,” points out Alexandre Viala.
The pebble in the shoe of a possible coalition
The other solution? Form a coalition that could bring together several sensibilities from the left to the right. “The repeal of the pension reform will certainly be a point of tension in the discussions. The adoption of this text, although achieved via 49-3, is one of the successes claimed by the members of Renaissance. I can’t see them agreeing to call it into question. While the RN wavered on the issue during the campaign,” analyzes constitutionalist Denis Baranger.
On June 12, Jordan Bardella had declared that in the event of cohabitation, it would be necessary to “make choices” and that the repeal of the pension reform was “no longer a priority”. However, the measure was part of the National Rally’s program with a lowering of the legal retirement age to 60. What will happen on July 18, the date of the first session of the new National Assembly? Jean-Luc Mélenchon had warned: “If we win the elections on Sunday, those who are 62 will retire immediately”. A rather risky statement, given the numerous legislative obstacles. Especially since dissensions within the New Popular Front cannot be ruled out. The Nupes, its predecessor, died from it.