the government opts for 49-3, the final session opens in the Assembly

► The final session opens at the National Assembly to boos

The final session opened Thursday, March 16 at 3 p.m. in the National Assembly to boos. The Nupes deputies sang the Marseillaise and held up signs “64 years old means no”. After a two-minute suspension, Elisabeth Borne took the floor under the protests of the deputies to activate article 49-3 on the text of the bill reforming pensions.

► Elisabeth Borne will use the 49-3 to pass the pension reform

The government finally decided to go through the 49-3 procedure to have the pension reform adopted and to give up the vote in the Assembly. A council of ministers met at the start of the afternoon at the Élysée to pave the way for this procedure, according to several sources from the executive and the majority.

► The inter-union reiterates its call to “vote against” the reform

The unions engaged in the battle against the pension reform reiterated Thursday their call to the deputies to “vote against” the “unfair” and “brutal” text, near the Assembly.

“The inter-union forcefully asks you, in the name of the immense social and popular movement opposed to the raising of the legal retirement age, to vote against the reform project”, declared François Hommeril (CFE-CGC) on behalf of trade unions. “The National Assembly and today’s vote have a crucial role in stopping this fundamentally unjust reform that is disconnected from the reality of work,” he also said.

► Emmanuel Macron brought together the tenors of the government

Several meetings on the fate of the pension reform were held throughout the day at the Élysée around Emmanuel Macron, with the leaders of the presidential camp and the heavyweights of the government. A last opened around 2 p.m., less than an hour before the final session of the National Assembly on pension reform

In addition to the head of government Élisabeth Borne, the meetings brought together the ministers of labor Olivier Dussopt and relations with Parliament Franck Riester as well as party and group leaders in the National Assembly and other figures of the majority such as the ministers Olivier Véran, Bruno Le Maire, Gérald Darmanin, Sébastien Lecornu or Gabriel Attal

Until the last moment, the Head of State and his supporters debated the risks of the two possible options: requesting a vote in the National Assembly or resorting to 49-3 which allows the adoption of the project without a vote, which is the solution finally chosen.

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