Elisabeth Borne has no choice. In her position as Prime Minister, with a relative majority in the National Assembly, she must find compromises, so she is looking for some! On the pension reform, “a majority exists”, she affirmed in a convinced tone, in an anaphora, Tuesday March 14, before the deputies.
Pension reform still in search of a parliamentary majority
But first you have to go through a conciliation phase. This is the role of the Joint Joint Committee (CMP), made up of seven deputies and seven senators, which is convened on Wednesday March 15, at 9 a.m., at the Palais-Bourbon.
Preparations behind the scenes
The meeting could be long, according to a regular. Parliamentarians must establish a common text, article by article. As a general rule, they can retain the version adopted by one or the other of the two assemblies or develop a new wording for certain articles.
For pensions, if the postponement of the legal age from 62 to 64 years is protected, several points remain to be settled, such as long careers and the “CDI senior”, introduced during the examination in the Senate. Similarly, certain concessions made to Les Républicains deputies could disappear, in the name of the financial balance of the reform.
Meetings, phone calls: the work was the subject of intense preparations behind the scenes, between the government and the deputies of the Renaissance and Republican groups. Everyone knows their score, starting with the Renaissance rapporteur deputy, Stéphanie Rist, who knows the room for maneuver accepted by the government.
A call to the right
A compromise is likely given the composition of the CMP favorable to the government. The presidential camp and the right-wing senatorial majority share ten of the fourteen incumbent seats. The debates will be conducted behind closed doors, as is customary. The request of the Socialists and the Insoumis for an audio and video broadcast was rejected. La France insoumise should however report, on Twitter, on the deliberations of the conclave.
But already, all eyes are on Thursday, March 16. If the CMP is conclusive, the pension reform project will then be submitted for the approval of the Senate in the morning, then to that of the National Assembly in the afternoon. “You will be led to express yourselves on the pension reform. Not on support for the government, but on this project, on this project only! “Launched Élisabeth Borne to the deputies of the right to obtain their positive vote.
However, uncertainty reigns over the outcome of the vote, as it looks tight. Just like the possibility that the government uses article 49-3 of the Constitution, allowing adoption without a vote. The opposition would then respond with a motion of censure.